White Sheep: Chamber of Secrets
by princess-katie
Summary: What if Lily Evans never existed? What if James Potter instead married the twin sister of Sirius Black? James and Maia Potter are alive and well and sending their son Harry off for his 2nd year at Hogwarts, with no idea of the trouble he will get into. Follow Harry and his parents through his second year here. James/OC. AU. Alive!Marauders.
1. The Birthday

**Note: This is the third in my Maia Black/Potter series! The rest are available on my profile, but basically this is an AU. Lily Evans never existed and Sirius has a twin sister, who James falls in love with. Live Marauders, live Regulus, Peter is in Azkaban and Harry has a younger sister, the Marauders were at school with Frank and Alice Longbottom and Maia is Neville's godmother.**

Chapter One

On a sunny Thursday afternoon in July, Maia Potter arrived home by floo from St Mungo's hospital - as she did every day when she finished work – and found herself standing in the empty kitchen of Potter Manor.

She stepped out of the fireplace, lifting a hand to her hair and brushing a stray curl that had fallen down out of her eyes, then pulling her wand from her pocket and using it to dust the soot from her robes. She glanced at the clock – it was just after 5pm and she wondered if her husband of 13 and a half years had beaten her home. They were both due to finish work at 5pm, but her working in a hospital and him being the head of his department meant working overtime and coming home late were extremely common.

Loud laughter caught her attention and she looked out of the kitchen window to see her two children playing in the garden playing on their broomsticks.

Harry, her 11 year old son – one day away from his 12th birthday - was soaring towards Lyra, his 10 year old sister, the snitch dancing between them. Harry was already the star of his house quidditch team so his little sister was no match for him, but she was holding her own, and Harry was going easy on her, missing the snitch and letting it fly around them.

On the ground beneath them, Remus Lupin, the children's live-in honorary uncle and Lyra's godfather was sitting on the wooden bench swing with a newspaper spread across his lap.

Maia's twin brother Sirius was nowhere to be seen, and neither was James, so Maia could only assume that they were both still at work, because if they were in the house, she couldn't imagine them missing out on the opportunity to play quidditch.

The oven was switched on and something inside was cooking. She checked on it and smiled- Remus must have made a start on dinner. The four adults tried to share out the housework and the cooking and take it in turns but Remus always seemed to end up doing extra, being the only one who didn't have a full time job. Still, he was supported by the Potters, and by Sirius, and he'd home-schooled Harry and Lyra when they were little, and watched them all the time when the others were at work, so as far as Maia was concerned, he'd was certainly deserving of every knut, and then some.

Satisfied that the food cooking was fine to be left for a bit longer, she stuffed her wand in her robes and went out to the garden. It was a beautiful sunny day and she couldn't wait until the weekend, when she could actually enjoy it properly.

"Hi!" she called brightly, waving at her children as she headed towards Remus on the swing bench, which was swinging of its own accord, a faint purple light flickering around the hinges to indicate that it was enchanted.

"Hi Mum!" Lyra shouted from a distance, lifting one hand from the broom handle to wave at her.

Harry on the other hand, grinned upon seeing her and immediately swerved towards the ground to come and speak to her properly. He landed neatly a few feet away from her, and Maia was standing near the bench by now, close enough for Remus to put aside his newspaper and say hello to her.

"Hi sweetheart," Maia grinned as her son got closer. Lyra was a daddy's girl through and through, but to Maia's eternal gratitude, Harry didn't seem to have a preference, and he always let her fuss over him and be affectionate. Right now she opened her arms and hugged him happily.

"How was your day?" she asked him.

Harry returned her hug and when they broke apart, he nodded, "Yeah good."

"Did Neville like his presents?"

Remus answered that one, "He was very happy. Even Augusta was in a good mood."

Maia raised her eyebrows at this bit of news about her godson's grandmother and guardian, who was usually quite a stern woman, "Oh really?"

"She gave us lots of cake," Harry said.

Maia grinned at the news, "Good. Did you tell him what time we'll fetch him tomorrow?"

Harry nodded, parroting the plan to her, "Uncle Remus, Lyra and I will pick him up at 12."

"Spot on," Maia agreed at the same time Lyra, still hovering in the air, shouted down at them at the top of her voice.

"Harry come on! Come and play!"

Harry rolled his eyes but went off without another word and Maia smiled, sitting down beside Remus on the bench. Today was the birthday of her godson, Neville Longbottom, who lived with his grandmother but spent two nights a week with the Potters, sometimes even more. Neville's grandmother usually put on a small birthday tea for him, with his great-aunt and -uncle in attendance, and wouldn't let him spend the day with the Potters. It didn't matter thought because the very next day was Harry's birthday, and Neville always spent it with them, and the two boys birthdays could be celebrated together.

Maia had visited Neville's parents in the permanent residence wing of St Mungo's hospital that morning, as she often did during her lunch breaks, and she'd seen Neville then and wished him a happy birthday, but she'd only spoken to him for about thirty seconds before she was paged away from her lunch and back to her ward for an urgent case.

"How was work?" Remus asked.

Maia sighed, "Busy. It's been a long day. I'll be happy when we can just celebrate Harry's birthday in peace. Anything exciting in the newspaper?"

"Not really," Remus replied, "I was just scanning the job section."

Maia was a little surprised but she couldn't blame him, it had been a while since he'd done anything much, not needing to with home schooling Harry and Lyra, and baby sitting them, but if he wanted to go back to work, she supposed she'd be able to find somewhere else to put Lyra when the others were all working. Maybe she could go into day-care at the hospital, although she'd be older than all the others. Maybe Augusta could look after her, but Lyra would hate it. Maybe she'd have to go part-time. They couldn't be selfish – if Remus wanted to go work, fine.

Before she had chance to voice any of it, Remus smiled at her, "Not for now, of course, but there's only a year before Lyra goes to Hogwarts and then maybe ..."

"Sure – I …. of _course_. You know if you ever want to get a job, you don't have to wait til Ly goes to school, we can find something else to do with her - "

Remus cut her off with a light chuckle, "I know. I like staying home with her, and Harry when he's around too, you know that. Just thought I'd see how busy the job boards are – give myself a bit of hope for when I do get round to it."

"Well anyone'd be lucky to have you," she told him sincerely.

There was only a second of silence before a loud crack resounding behind them, making Maia flinch violently. She heaved a sigh, knowing what would have happened before she even turned around.

"Sirius, you idiot, don't _do_ that!" she hissed, looking over her shoulder and glaring at her twin.

Sirius grinned, shrugging out of his cloak, letting it land carelessly on the floor and then flopping to the ground, sticking his legs out in front of him, leaning back on his elbows and reclining on the grass with ease. There was a wooden picnic bench not far from them, that was often made larger or smaller to accommodate for their guests, but Sirius seemed to have decided against using it - Maia was slightly glad because it would have meant them all moving there and she loved the swing.

"Ah, lighten up sis," he shrugged, considering his cloak for a minute and then flicking his wand at it to send it inside where it belonged.

Maia rolled her eyes at him and as he said something to Remus, she didn't really catch it because with the arrival of Sirius, she was expecting James. She looked towards the doors to the house just in time to see them open and James come strolling through, knowing better than to apparate, because that would certainly make his wife mad.

"Hi Dad!" Lyra shouted from the air, though she was too concentrated on chasing Harry to come down.

"Hey kids!" James shouted back with a wave, crossing the grass and approaching the adults. He spared a smile for Remus, barely registered Sirius – which was fair enough since he'd been at work with him all day – and mainly had eyes for his wife. He leaned down to take her face in his hands and planted a kiss on her lips. She was somewhat taken by surprise, given his lack of greeting prior to this and the fact that they were surrounded by Sirius and Remus. It was quite a lingering kiss, hands on her face, lips moving as perfectly against hers as they always did.

When he broke apart, she pouted slightly and he grinned, "Afternoon love," he said, flopping down onto the grass beside Sirius.

Maia took a moment to compose herself before replying, "Well, hello handsome. How was your day?"

Sirius, as ever, rolled his eyes at the flirting between the two, though everyone knew that he didn't mind too much – he didn't really have a choice after all this time.

James shrugged, "Not bad. Nothing exciting to report, I'm afraid. Did Neville like his presents?" he asked Remus.

Remus, who was Neville's godfather, nodded, "He was very grateful. I told him the kids and I will pick him up at lunch tomorrow."

James nodded, now addressing everyone, "And are we all sorted for tomorrow?"

"Think so," Maia replied, glancing up at her son, who was racing through the air, across the vast grounds of Potter Manor, with Lyra quite a way behind him, "you're sure you can get away in good time tomorrow?"

James smiled, "Love, unless there's a huge disaster that affects the entire world, then Sirius and I'll be away early so we can celebrate our boy's birthday properly."

Maia grinned, "Great. I don't think I'll be away any earlier than 5, but I'll try not to be any later, and I'll nip into the village and pick up his cake on the way home."

There was a beautiful little bakery in the nearby village, and although the four of them had tried to make a cake for themselves in the past, when the children's birthdays fell in the week, sometimes there was just no time to make one. Besides, the village bakery was wonderful.

"We should wrap the last of his presents before bed tonight," James added.

Maia agreed, trying to make sure they'd thought of very detail for their boy's day.

"What time are we expecting people?" Sirius asked.

Maia rolled her eyes, "We talked about this _this morning._ Regulus will be here at 5, Andromeda and Ted too, and you, James and Tonks will leave work together between 4 and 5 o clock, unless there is a wizarding world crisis. You _did_ tell Tonks?"

"Course we did," James told her, rolling his eyes at Sirius, "everything's fine."

Maia was looking forward to having all her family around, even if their family was a bit patchy. Still, they got together often enough. Regulus came around for dinner every Sunday, and he tried to never miss the kids birthdays.

Andromeda, Maia's favourite cousin and the only one who wasn't allied with the dark side and the Black family's ridiculous pure-blood ways, invited them over for tea every so often, but Andromeda was a good ten years older and very sensible, so although they got along, it wasn't in the same way that Maia got on with her brothers.

Maia was much closer to Andromeda's daughter, Nymphadora. Nymphadora, who preferred to be known by her surname only, had become a regular fixture at Potter Manor, and the whole house loved her company.

Tonks wasn't yet twenty, but Maia and the Marauders had never grown up fully and Maia came to see the younger woman as a sort of cross between a younger sister and a daughter. Lyra adored the woman and Sirius and James did too, especially since they worked with her every day.

James had been made head of the Auror department a little over 2 years ago, when he and Sirius' mentor Alastor Moody retired, and he absolutely loved it. He wasn't too impressed with the amount of paperwork he had to face but it was his dream job. Tonks had been in the department for a year and was the first person to join since James took over, and he liked having a protegee. It helped that Tonks was rather like a young Maia and Sirius, wild, outgoing and exactly how he could imagine his daughter turning out. Minus the bubblegum pink hair, that was. Tonks came around about once a week, usually on Fridays or Saturdays and she'd have dinner, then they'd all have a few drinks and be silly.

Even Remus liked Tonks – it was hard not to. She'd quickly become part of their family and Maia liked to watch them interact, wondering if maybe there was a little spark between them. James told her she was being silly, there was the age gap for one, then there the fact that Remus was so … _Remus,_ and Tonks was … wild.

"D'you need a hand wrapping anything, or sorting anything else out?" Remus asked.

Maia grinned at him, "I'm sure James and I can manage between us. You're doing enough picking Neville up tomorrow – I can't imagine visiting Augusta twice in a row, you're a very brave man."

Remus smirked slightly, "Well I wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing."

Before long it was time for dinner, and Maia rose to her feet to go check on it, telling Remus to sit back down, since he'd cooked it all, she was pretty sure she could serve it up without help. James stood up too and insisted on coming to help, and Maia was never one to refuse her husband anything he wanted, especially when he had that glint in his eyes.

In the kitchen, Maia leaned down to stroke the little black kitten who curled itself around her legs and mewed up at her. She gently stroked between the kitten's ears, and little Hera purred happily. Maia smiled and reached down to pick her up, wrapping her arms around her and holding her close to her chest.

"Hello sweetie," she cooed. The cat had been a present for her birthday a couple of years back, and she adored it. It was perhaps an unusual choice of pet, given they had a werewolf and an animagus dog living there too, and Hera seemed to hate Sirius. She hated Lyra too, quite liked Harry and pretended to hate James, but Maia had caught them cuddling a few times when she got home and they weren't quite expecting her.

Behind her, James cleared his throat, "Are we checking on dinner or cuddling the furball?"

Maia tutted at him and stroked down Hera's spine with one hand, the other holding her close. Speaking to the cat in a silly voice, in James' opinion, she said, "He's mean, isn't he? Daddy's just jealous that I'm not cuddling _him_."

"Don't call me the cat's " _Daddy_ "" James sighed, though he looked a little amused.

Maia snuggled Hera for a few seconds longer, before setting her down on her feet, where she mewled and continued to find herself around Maia's legs as she crossed the kitchen to wash her hands.

As she turned off the tap and dried her hands on a towel, facing the window, she felt James' presence extremely close to her and he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, hugging her back to him and leaning down to rest his chin on her shoulder.

"You're so beautiful," he mumbled, lifting his chin slightly and turning his head so his nose nudged at her cheek.

She grinned, relaxing against him and turning her face towards his, "What's gotten into you today?" she asked, thinking of the overly passionate greeting she'd gotten when he got in from work.

James grinned, his lips almost brushing hers with every word he spoke, "I just love you, is all."

Maia was somewhat taken aback by his sudden display of affection and she grinned, though she felt the blush spread across her cheeks. She couldn't find the appropriate words quickly enough, so she leaned in, closing the very small distance between them and touching his lips with her own.

His lips moved perfectly against her own, taking control of the kiss and swiping at her lower lip with his tongue. It was slow and controlled, and when they broke apart, Maia smiled, relaxing back into him completely.

"Love you too," she mumbled.

"I have a good feeling about this month," James told her, one hand moving from her hip to her stomach, spreading his fingers and covering her body with one large hand.

Maia smiled, though it was a little sad too, "I hope so."

They had been trying to conceive their third child for 4 and a half months, so far without success but James was being incredibly sweet and spent a lot of time reminding her that that really wasn't too long, and he always did it with such love in his eyes that she couldn't fail to believe him.

The high points came at the end of every month, like now, when Maia was ovulating and their attempts to conceive were at a high, and the low points were in the middle of the month when she found out she wasn't pregnant.

James smiled gently and kissed her cheek, trying to kiss away any hint of unhappiness and he was very pleased when he earned himself a small smile.

"You might have to let me go, or dinner will burn and everyone will starve," Maia told him.

James pouted but could hardly deny that she was right, even if she was being a bit dramatic, and he reluctantly let go of her. After they ate dinner, it wasn't long before the children went up to their rooms for the nights, and the adults followed behind.

Maia never really liked to go to bed late when she had work the next day and with the added element of trying to conceive, she got to bed even earlier some nights so they didn't run out of time.

Almost as soon as they'd gone up to bed that night, Maia found herself gently pushed up against the closed door and James' lips were upon hers. She smiled into the kiss, her hands moving to his back, fingers knotting in his clothes, drawing him even closer. She'd worried at first, that the longer they tried to conceive, the more their efforts would become business-like, and they'd lose all the passion out of their relationship, but James was so giving, so loving that she didn't know how she'd ever thought it.

By the time he broke apart from her, she was breathless but as he moved to kiss her neck, brushing her hair out of the way, she whined slightly, moving her hands to his chest and pushing him back ever so slightly.

"The presents," she all but whispered, "we need to wrap them before bed."

James gave her his best grin, one hand moving to rake through his already messy hair, "We could do it later?"

"No we couldn't," she replied, raising her eyebrows at him, "we'll forget after …. we should do it now."

Knowing she was right, James agreed, drawing his wand from inside his robes and summoning Harry's presents, which were hidden in their room, then summoning the wrapping paper and the bits of stupid ribbon that he had no idea how to make look nice but his mother ha always done for him, and it always looked nice.

Maia climbed onto the bed and drew her own wand from her robes, reaching for the first present.

James wasn't much help, sitting on the bed with her and doing his very best to be a distraction as Maia magically wrapped all the presents, trying and make the ribbon curl nicely with her wand but sort of giving up, trying to make all the presents look good.

James was desperately trying to distract her, kneeling behind her, wrapping an arm around her middle, brushing all of her hair to one side to expose her neck so he could trail kisses down it. Maia protested at first but she was grinning and giggling and he couldn't help himself.

When the last present was finally wrapped, Maia flicked her wand at it to send it off to the corner of the room, where it joined a small pile. Satisfied with the task at hand, she grinned and tossed her wand onto the bedside table, still a bit constricted by James' arm loose around her waist as he still kissed his way down her neck.

Smirking, Maia wriggled against him, turning around to face him and pushing at his chest, guiding him to lie back against the pillows and following his body with her own. Almost as soon as she lay down beside him, he was wrapping his arms around her again, this time pressing his lips to hers, making her card her hands through his hair.

Some time later, when they curled up together and about to go to sleep, Maia let out a sigh, her mind wandering as it often did to the baby they hadn't even conceived yet. She knew she was incredibly lucky to have Harry and Lyra but the longer they spent unsuccessfully trying for a third, the longer she desperately wanted one.

"You okay, love?" James mumbled, her head tucked under his chin and his lips brushing her hair.

"Fine," she replied, closing her eyes and taking in his warmth, fingertips skirting across his bare chest.

"What're you thinking about?" he pressed, frowning slightly since he'd caught her sigh and it didn't really sound like a sigh of contentment.

"Just hoping this is _it_ ," she replied.

"I know," James replied, one hand stroking up and down her arm, "but you're not worrying, are you? Because we talked about that - worrying and putting pressure on yourself doesn't help us."

She nodded – they'd had the conversation not too long ago, but it was easy enough to say and much easier to follow through on. Nobody could _help_ worrying.

Sensing that she hadn't quite relaxed, James continued to stroke her arms gently, keeping her safely wrapped up in her arms. He was quite convinced that they'd succeed, no matter how long it took and he just wanted to make her happy.

Hoping to get a smile out of her, he asked, "What do you want this time? Boy or girl?"

She smiled lightly – the last time she'd asked him whether he wanted another boy or a girl, James had grinned and replied that he wanted twins, and she'd almost slapped him. After considering the question for a moment, she smiled and answered honestly, "I don't mind. Either would be lovely, but I hope they have your eyes this time."

James smiled – their two children had Maia's unusual grey eyes, which her brothers also had, and James was very glad of it, even if looking at his daughter with his wife's beautiful grey eyes meant to couldn't deny her anything she wanted.

Before he could reply, Maia mumbled, "You have nice eyes."

He chuckled and knew she'd be asleep within seconds so he kissed her hair and mumbled an "I love you."

The next morning Maia was standing in the kitchen sipping on her morning cup of tea when Harry entered the kitchen. James and Sirius were at the table, wolfing down bacon and sausages and Remus was leaning against the counter, sipping on a hot chocolate.

"Good morning birthday boy!" Maia beamed, putting down her tea and crossing the room in a few short steps, opening her arms. Harry accepted her hug and grinned when she practically shouted, "Happy birthday!" in his ear.

When she let go of him, he stumbled over to the table, still feeling pretty sleepy, he was immediately embraced by his father, who slapped him on the back and hugged him happily. Maia got to work making him a nice breakfast – pancakes, with plenty of chocolate sauce.

She liked that Harry often got up early enough so she could see him before work, even if it was just for a quick hello and a hug. Lyra rarely got out of bed before lunch unless she had to, except on her birthday. More often than not of course, Maia and James were working on their children's birthdays but they wanted to see them open their presents, so they told them they'd have to open them before they went to work, or wait until they came home. Lyra always opted to get up early and open hers, but Harry preferred to wait, so he didn't have to rush to get it all done before they went to work.

"How does it feel to be 12, Prongslet?" Sirius asked, throwing his arms around him and ruffling up his hair when he pulled away.

Harry shrugged, "Pretty similar to how being 11 felt."

Sirius raised his eyebrows, "But you're not going to be an ickle firsty this year," he teased, putting on a silly voice and sounding eerily similar to Peeves, which made Harry wince, "won't it be nice to be so grown-up?"

"Stop teasing him," Maia chided as she flipped a pancake over successfully and smiled at the outcome when she saw a perfectly formed pancake sitting in the pan.

As they all chatted away, Maia piled Harry's plate high with pancakes and put the chocolate syrup in front of him, knowing it was his favourite, then she glanced at the clock – time to go.

"Ok sweetheart," she said, tugging on her black cloak over the lime-green robes of St Mungo's hospital, "as much as I want to spend your birthday with you, we have to go to work. Have a good day until I see you again," she told him, leaning down to kiss his forehead.

Maia spent the whole day looking forward to going home so much and just spending all that time with her family. She wasn't faced with any particularly difficult new patients and her existing patients were progressing nicely. After checking up on someone at half past 4, then doing a final sweep of her area. Satisfied that she could hand over to her colleague, who had come in a bit earlier, as ever, she was leaving work at ten minutes to five.

She apparated to Puddlemere, making sure to pick a quiet point to land. The village housed lots of witches and wizards, right down to a full quidditch team and stadium which the muggles thought was an abandoned warehouse, but there were lots of muggles too.

She picked up her son's birthday cake from the bakery and was thrilled to be home, apparating onto her doorstep at 5pm exactly. She let herself into the house and announced her arrival with a loud, "Hello?!"

Unsurprisingly, nobody answered and Maia imagined they'd all be out in the garden. None of them really stayed cooped up inside if it was a nice enough day, and the Manor had such nice grounds.

She kicked the front door closed behind her with one foot and went through to the kitchen, planting the white box which contained the beautiful chocolate cake, down on one of the kitchen counters. Various bowls and plates of food were scattered around the counters covered in clingfilm and tinfoil and she checked the fridge – bits of food in there too. She smiled – they'd decided on nothing fancy for dinner, sort of a picnic, so most of the food didn't even need preparing, much less cooking and it appeared that Remus had spent his day getting it ready. Glancing through the kitchen window, she saw James, Sirius and Tonks sitting with Remus, so maybe they'd helped too, she thought, glad that they'd got home early.

James, Sirius, Tonks and Remus were sitting on the picnic bench, each with a mug in front of them, looking relaxed in conversation. Laying on the grass some way off, Harry and Neville were facing each other with Harry's new chess board between them. Lyra was sitting on Harry's side of the board, but Maia was sure she was being more annoying than she was helping.

There was no sign of Andromeda and Ted, or Regulus, but they'd told them to come by around 5 and it had only just turned 5.

Once satisfied that the cake was in a safe place, where Harry wouldn't come peeking at it, Maia turned to go join the others outside. She'd barely stepped out of the kitchen when she heard a noise behind her, the roar of the fire and emerald green light out of the corner of her eye.

She turned around in time to see her younger brother – younger only by one year – stepping out of the fireplace, as dignified and collected as ever, unlike the way _she_ usually stepped out of the fire brushing plenty of soot from her robes.

"Regulus," she grinned, stepping forward.

Regulus smiled at her – it was small, half a smile even, but he wasn't particularly outgoing with his affections, not like she and Sirius were, and she knew any smile from him was a sign of great affection.

"Hello sister," he returned, striding forwards to meet her and leaning down to kiss her cheek. It was always like this – Regulus held great affection for his sister, and had done ever since he'd betrayed Voldemort and turned a double agent upon hearing the news that her son was the subject of Voldemort's prophecy.

He worked as the Potions Master at Hogwarts and he came by every Sunday for dinner and although he wasn't one for feelings and emotions, he loved Harry and Lyra, and he now had good relationships with Sirius, James and Remus too.

He even had a girlfriend – not that he'd talk to his family about her, despite all the pressing they did. He had been dating Hogwarts' astronomy professor for almost six months and he wasn't about to have her scared off by his family, especially Sirius, who was bound to make fun. James and Maia had met her twice, very briefly, and each time Regulus had tried to usher them away so they didn't have to interact.

"I'm so glad you could make it," Maia smiled when he straightened back up from his greeting kiss, tightening his hold on the very neatly wrapped package in his arms, "did you wrap that yourself?"

"'Course I did," Regulus replied, sounding a little offended and giving her his best eye-roll, "you under-estimate me, sister."

She smiled slightly, "I'm sure I do. Come on, everyone else is in the garden. D'you want anything to drink?"

Regulus shook his head slightly, "Maybe later. C'mon, I want to see the birthday boy."

"You know, you could have brought Aurora," Maia commented as she led the way out of the kitchen and towards the garden.

Regulus scoffed, "You must be joking."

"What? She'll have to meet us properly _some_ day if you're planning on keeping her around."

Regulus rolled his eyes, aware that his nosy sister was watching him carefully. His feelings for Aurora Sinistra were growing stronger every day but there was no need to tell his sister that. Not if he didn't want to made fun of when Sirius got hold of the news. "If you say so." he mumbled, following her out of the kitchen and towards the garden.

"I'm home!" Maia announced, pushing open the back door and stepping into the garden.

From the picnic table, James, Sirius, Tonks and Remus all called a happy hello to Maia and her younger brother. Tonks stood up quickly to greet Maia, who she liked very much, and would have knocked over her mug if Remus hadn't seen it coming and pulled it out of the way.

Maia laughed and embraced her younger cousin, "Good to see you," she said, pulling back and admiring the electric blue locks she was sporting today. She then turned to James, who was sitting on the bench beside Tonks' vacated seat. "Hi darling," she smiled, leaning down and pressing a short kiss to his lips, grinning wider when she felt his hands on her waist, trying to pull her to sit on his lap.

She resisted his attempts, and as Regulus greeted the others, she turned her attention to the children. "Alright, you lot?" she called.

"Uncle Regulus!" Lyra shrieked, getting to her feet and hurrying over, as Harry walked over rather more calmly. Neville looked a bit unsure and settled for staying where he was – Regulus had a reputation at Hogwarts for being strict and stern, especially with those who lacked an aptitude for Potions, which Neville certainly did.

Lyra threw her arms around her uncle's waist and Regulus smiled – as much as he ever did, anyway. Over Lyra's head, he handed the present he was still carrying to Harry, and returned his niece's hug. Maia rolled her eyes – of _course_ her daughter was more interested in Regulus than saying hello to her own mother.

Andromeda and Ted arrived soon after and the picnic table was magically lengthened until it could contain all of them. They enjoyed plenty of food and Harry was very pleased with his birthday cake, as were all the adults.

After demolishing the birthday cake, tossing around a Fanged Frisbee and playing a few little games of quidditch, things began to settle down. Harry and Neville went up to Harry's room to play, and Lyra went to her own room. Andromeda and Ted left first, thanking Maia for inviting them and telling their daughter not to be home too late. Their daughter only rolled her eyes in response.

Regulus left shortly before 8pm. Sirius tried very hard to convince him that it was Friday night and they were just getting warmed up, so he should stay and have a few real drinks with them. Regulus politely declined, insisting he had work to do over the weekend.

Even on the last day of July, the temperature in the garden began to drop as time drew on, and as Sirius summoned a bottle of mead from the kitchen with a lazy flick of his wand, Maia shuddered a little and drew her own wand to light some heating lamps.

"Maia?" Sirius asked, holding the mead aloft and raising his eyebrows at her, having already poured a glass for himself, James, Tonks and Remus.

Maia smiled but shook her head, "Not tonight, thanks." She had given up alcohol a couple of months into her attempts to conceive for a third time, but Sirius had no idea she and James were trying to have another baby, and she didn't feel like telling him either. It would be too painful to tell people about it if they ultimately failed. Remus knew, because he was highly observant and had questioned Maia about her recent drinking habits, wrongly suspecting that she was already pregnant, but no-one else knew.

"Sure?" Sirius asked.

Maia bit her lip. It wasn't going to be long before Sirius saw through her constant excuses for not drinking – she was tired, she didn't feel like it, she was trying to be more healthy, etcetera - particularly because she'd always like to have the odd drink on a Friday or Saturday night, especially if Tonks was over and they were all having fun.

James chuckled and wrapped an arm around Maia's shoulders, drawing her closer to him and shooting his brother in law, who was sitting opposite him, a playful glare, "C'mon Padfoot, we're too old for peer pressure surely?"

Sirius raised his hands in surrender, "I was just checking!"

"I'm fine, I promise," Maia told him, letting her head drop down onto James' shoulder as his hand slid from her shoulder, down the length of her arm and settled in the curve of her waist. Forcing away a yawn – no doubt the result of another long and busy week at the hospital – she looked between Tonks, James and Sirius, "I think it's time for one of your stories," she said.

All three grinned, loving to share their most outrageous stories from their Auror work, and all three being loud, outgoing and sharing a flair for story telling. Sirius and Tonks fought their way through a story about a particularly amusing call out from a few days ago, and James' attention soon wandered, instead looking down at his wife and letting his hand trail around her waist, up her side, across her back, up and down her arm, leaving heat everywhere he touched.

Maia looked up at him and found him looking back at her with such an unguarded love in his eyes that she couldn't look away. He'd had a few drinks – not enough to be drunk, but enough to be completely open and honest, unguarded, and he was always more affectionate and loving when he'd had a drink.

Sirius and Tonks soon realised the couple weren't listening, and directed the majority of their story at Remus, fighting for his attention and making him chuckle.

Maia saw her husband's eyes flick from her eyes down to her lips and back, and she smirked slightly – he was never able to contain himself once he'd had a drink, and as the only stone cold sober person of the pair, it fell to her to control the situation.

She tore her eyes away from him and pulled her cloak around her shoulders a little tighter, before picking up her mug and standing up. Tonks and Sirius were arguing over a minor detail in their story and Remus was stuck in the middle, so when Maia mumbled that she was going to make a cup of tea, they barely batted an eyelid.

Unsurprisingly, James stood up too and followed her into the kitchen. He closed the door behind them and immediately wrapped an arm around her waist from behind, using his free hand to brush her hair away from her neck.

" _James_ ," Maia laughed, squirming slightly against him as she felt his breath on her neck, "behave yourself, Mr."

She managed to turn her wand to the kettle to put it on to boil, but got no further because her husband suddenly turned her around in his arms, "I don't like behaving," he said, "Not around you. Besides, it's too difficult."

She rolled her eyes at him, "I think the alcohol has gone to your head."

He pouted, hands taking hold of her hips and pulling her close to him, "I'm not drunk. You're just really pretty and I want to kiss you."

Maia smirked, pushing herself up on her tiptoes, "I think that can be arranged," she mumbled, getting so close that her lips brushed his with every word. Just before she was about to kiss him soundly, a loud crash came from somewhere above them.

Frowning, Maia immediately drew back, her instincts kicking in, worried that something might harm one of her children. James' expression was suddenly equally alert as he stepped back from her and raised his eyebrows, "Did you hear-?"

He trailed off as a series of loud bangs sounded above them, and drew his wand from his robes. Maia briefly thought that the expression of steely determination and caution must be the face he routinely wore in his job as Head Auror.

"Everything alright, kids?" Maia called from the bottom of the staircase, as she'd followed James into the hallway and drawn her own wand.

From a few floors above, Maia faintly heard Harry's voice, "Erm … yeah … everything's fine," he shouted, though she couldn't help but think he didn't sound convinced. She glanced at James and saw him looking equally unconvinced, and they started up the staircase.

More bangs and crashes emitted from Harry's room as they hurried up the staircase, and the first thing they came across was Lyra, standing in Harry's doorway, a look of alarm on her face.

"What's going on up here?" James demanded immediately.

Lyra looked relieved to see her parents and backed away from Harry's door, replying, "Daddy there's a … a _thing_ in there."

Maia could hear some noise from Harry's room - a high pitched squeak and then shushing noises. "Go back to your room sweetie," she ordered her daughter, who obeyed without question, though she lingered in her own doorway curiously.

"Harry?" James frowned, moving closer to Harry's room, "everything ok in there, son?"

Maia reached her son's doorway a split second after James did, and she almost walked into him, as he'd suddenly stopped still, lowering his wand slightly. Looking over his shoulder, Maia stared in shock and confusion.

Harry was standing in the middle of the room, looking confused and alarmed, staring at his parents with wide eyes and unable to explain the situation. At his side, Neville was staring at what Lyra had described as the "thing."

The "thing" was small and thin, dressed in dirty rags and clutching Harry's desk lamp, looking very miserable indeed as it stared at their wands.

Maia blinked, just to make sure she wasn't seeing things, and although it seemed that neither of her children, nor her godson, were in danger, the presence of this creature in their home brought up dozens of new questions.

"Erm … right," James said, shaking his head as if to make sure he wasn't seeing things too.

Maia cleared her throat, tearing her eyes from the newcomer and looking at her son, "Harry, why on earth is there a house-elf in your bedroom?"

* * *

 **Note: Thanks to all returning readers, and new ones too. I'm still trying to get back into my writing style and the characters, but hopefully this was ok! I'm happy to take any suggestions.**

 **Also - I am running a poll on my profile to take suggestions on the gender of James and Maia's next baby, if anyone would like to vote!**


	2. The Beach

**Note: Thanks for the overwhelming positive response to my return to writing, I'm so pleased to have you all back! Sorry for the delay, I found this chapter quite difficult to write as inspiration was low, with it being a link chapter between parts of canon, so I end up writing silly fluff until the next chapter gets onto Diagon Alley and the return to Hogwarts.**

Chapter 2

" _Harry, why on earth is there a house-elf in your bedroom?"_

Maia was at a loss for words as she lowered her wand and stepped into her son's bedroom, eyes fixed on the house-elf that most certainly did _not_ belong to the Potter family. James followed her, resting his hand lightly in the small of her back, eyes fixed firmly on his son.

Harry seemed at a loss for words, and it took him a second to come up with some words, but even then he seemed too surprised to adequately explain.

"Erm … this is Dobby. He – erm – came to see me."

Maia frowned, turning her attention to the elf, who looked alarmed and clearly hadn't intended to be seen by any fully grown witches or wizards, as he was staring at James' wand cautiously.

"So," she said, trying to remain calm "Dobby – what are you doing here? Who sent you?"

"No-one sends Dobby, miss," the house-elf squeaked, raising one hand so his thumb and middle finger were pressed together. He then turned to look at Harry and said, "Harry Potter must heed Dobby's warning."

With that, the elf snapped his fingers, a loud crack sounded through the room, and he was gone.

"What the hell was that all about?" James demanded of Harry.

"Is it gone now?" Lyra asked from Harry's doorway, clearly too curious to stay away, "Daddy, what _was_ that thing? I just came in because it was noisy and saw it hitting itself in the head with the lamp."

"It was a house-elf, angel," James told his daughter, taking a few steps closer to her so he could reach out and wrap an arm around her shoulders.

Lyra frowned, "Really? Well, they're much less ugly in my books. What was it doing here?"

James chuckled and leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead, "Never you mind. How about you go back to whatever you were doing and let us talk to your brother?"

Somewhat reluctantly, but always one to listen to her dad, Lyra turned and left the room.

"Well?" James asked expectantly as he looked between Neville and Harry, "the elf had a warning for you?"

"He … he just turned up. He said I shouldn't go back to Hogwarts."

" _What_?" James demanded more sharply, with all the air of someone who regularly carried out interrogations.

Harry was forthcoming with his answers, to say the least, as he continued, "Dobby said if I go back to school, I'll be in mortal danger. He said there's a plot to make terrible things happen at Hogwarts, and I'm too important to be harmed. "

Maia's blood ran cold – there was no doubt that anything happening to her children was her biggest fear, and it hadn't been long since Harry had been in danger at school, facing a teacher possessed by Voldemort himself. She looked at James, alarmed, and he looked concerned, but much less so than she had expected. Instead, he looked as though he was calculating, and she could almost see the cogs turning in his head.

"Who sent the elf?" James asked.

Harry shook his head, "He didn't say. _Couldn't_ say, I think. They didn't know he was here – he said he'd have to punish himself for coming here. He implied they were bad wizards."

James frowned, "So a house-elf came here without his master's knowledge, to tell you not to go back to Hogwarts because something dangerous is going to happen?"

"He said I couldn't go back," Harry confirmed, "said he'd tried to stop all my letters, so I'd think I didn't have any friends there, but he couldn't intercept owls without one of you knowing they'd been tampered with."

James was silent for a moment, and Maia couldn't tell what he was thinking. Her heart was racing – could there be a danger at the school? Wouldn't Dumbledore know? But then again, he hadn't known that Quirrell was possessed, and it had fallen to Harry to stop him stealing the Philosopher's Stone, so Dumbledore wasn't exactly all-knowing. But how would a house-elf know? And why would he come and tell Harry? It just didn't add up. But whatever she thought, there was no way she was going to worry Harry about it.

Maia sighed, "Harry, I wouldn't worry too much. If there really was a danger at the school, how would this elf know?"

Harry shrugged, "He said it wasn't Voldemort, so maybe Dobby's family are the ones who are going to do something bad."

"No," James said firmly, suddenly in full control of the room, "listen to me Harry – you are not to worry about what that house-elf said. There is no way a house-elf would know of a serious danger to the Hogwarts security – one that didn't involve Voldemort, but the elf's masters - without the headmaster or the ministry knowing. Hogwarts is very well protected, and the events surrounding the Philosopher's Stone will only have increased Professor Dumbledore's caution. You'll go back to Hogwarts, and nothing will happen."

"But why would Dobby say-" started Harry, trailing off, face twisting in confusion.

James sighed, "It's probably someone's idea of a joke. I can't see how that house-elf would know of a threat, and if he did, why he'd come here to warn you. Realistically, what would his family even do? It would take dark powers beyond a normal family to do any damage that Dumbledore wouldn't be able to instantly put down. No, I think someone sent that elf to you on purpose."

"But who'd do that?" Maia frowned, though she had to admit it sounded more plausible than the elf's actual story, and it was much more reassuring to think of.

James shrugged, "Well _I_ don't know. Is there anyone who'd have some sort of grudge against you?"

Neville and Harry exchange knowing looks, and Harry instantly said, "Draco Malfoy."

Maia nodded – she remembered Harry mentioning the boy once. How he picked on people, had taken an instant disliking to Harry. Regulus had spoken about him too, and he sounded like a thoroughly nasty child, which wasn't surprising given what he had for parents. He probably had no good influences in his life.

She and James had been careful however, to make sure they didn't openly speak badly of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, beyond saying they weren't nice people, not feeling the need to tell Harry all about the family's dark ways, and Lucius' suspected (or known, to the former members of the Order of the Phoenix) death eater activity. It opened the way for too many conversations about death eaters, and things they had done, and they'd quite like to avoid having those conversations with their children for as long as possible. Lyra and Harry had no idea, for instance, that their uncle Regulus had once been a death eater, or that Sirius and Maia had run away from home as teenagers due to the abuse they suffered at the hands of their parents.

There had once been a nasty run in with Narcissa, Lucius and Draco in Diagon Alley however, that Maia imagined would have forever cemented the Malfoys as bad people, in her children's minds.

"Well," Maia said, "I suppose the Malfoy boy could have sent his elf here as some kind of joke. They'll certainly own an elf."

"You think there's really nothing to worry about?" Harry quizzed his father.

James offered his son a small smile, "I do. I don't want you worrying about anything. How would an elf know about a plot at Hogwarts, that Dumbledore didn't even know about? Don't worry, Prongslet."

At his father's affectionate nickname for him, Harry smiled, seemingly relaxed.

"You believe me?" James asked, raising his eyebrows.

Harry nodded, "Yes Dad."

James grinned, "Good lad. Now, don't you two be staying up too late," he added, grinning at Neville too, before turning to the door, glancing at Maia, trying to work out whether she was still worried.

Maia plastered her best smile on her face and went over to hug her son, wrapping her arms around him and leaning down to press a kiss to his cheek, "Listen to your dad, sweetie. Sometimes he talks sense. Did you have a good birthday?"

Harry smiled as she let go of him, "It was good. Thanks for everything, Mum."

"You're very welcome, sweetie." Turning to Neville, she reached out and squeezed his shoulder, "good night, Neville. I was thinking we could go down to the beach tomorrow, if it's nice."

When they'd left Harry's room, James closed the door behind them and reached out to drape his arm over his wife's shoulders as they made their way back to the garden.

"Do you believe everything you just told Harry to believe?" Maia asked, looking up at him as they slowly started to descend the staircase.

James looked at her with a slight frown, "Do you _not_?"

Maia bit her lip, eyes focused on the stairs in front of her and her arm curled around her husband's waist, "I don't see how a random house-elf could know about some dangerous plot at the school when no-one else does, and even if there _was_ such a plot, I don't see why the elf would come and warn Harry. Why not go warn someone who could do something about it? So … I struggle to believe it all but … what if there _is_ some … danger?"

Running his hand from her shoulder to her elbow and back again as they walked, James sighed, "I promise you, I don't think we need to be worried."

"But what if-"

James interrupted her gently, "I know. Of all people, I get it. He's already been in more danger than any child his age but logically … I really _do_ think it's far more likely that this is some kind of silly joke."

Maia nodded, knowing it made sense, "I hope so. But … what kind of idiot would send a house-elf to try and stop someone they didn't like from going back to school?"

"Well, you know how kids are," James replied, still stroking her arm.

Maia snorted, "There were people we didn't like at school and we didn't try to stop them from coming back!"

James chuckled, "The point _is_ , I really don't think we should worry about this. I know we have plenty of reason to worry about Harry but this is too unbelievable, if we think about it logically. We could maybe mention it to Dumbledore though, so he's aware? But I think we should do that and then try to forget about this."

She nodded, fingers curling into the material of his shirt, "It just … doesn't sit right with me but … it doesn't make sense if the elf is telling the truth either."

They had now reached the bottom of the staircase and James drew to a halt, making Maia stop too. He moved to stand in front of her, reaching out to cup her face with one hand, the other moving to settle on her waist.

"Darling wife, please don't worry yourself about this," he said sincerely, "I know it's concerning, but there's no evidence to back the elf's claims up. We can't investigate, but we can tell Dumbledore about it so he's aware, and what better person to tell? Beyond that, I think we shouldn't worry."

Maia nodded, closing her eyes as James brushed his thumb across her cheek softly, "I know what you're saying makes _sense_ , I just … it's our _kids_. If there was anything dangerous going on, and we hadn't done something about it …"

"I know," James said softly, his thumb brushing over her lower lip, "we'll write to Dumbledore and let him know – even if it's nothing, it can't do any harm. Beyond that, I don't think there's anything more we can do, but that should be enough. How do you feel about that?"

She nodded, staring into her husband's hazel eyes, "We should definitely let Dumbledore know. Even if it's nothing."

"Yes."

Maia nodded again. There was nothing more they could do, and if she thought about the logic, it really didn't make any sense as a story. "Ok," she said, "ok then."

James nodded too, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead, lips lingering for a few moments. When he pulled back, offering out his arm and gesturing towards the door that led to the garden, Maia took his arm and sighed, "Do you think our children will ever stop causing us so much stress?"

James chuckled as they strolled towards the garden, "Of course not. In fact, I'm sure we'll have more to stress us out before long."

Smiling at the thought, Maia found herself resisting the urge to press her free hand to her stomach, wondering when – if – they might be blessed with another baby.

Almost as soon as they arrived back in the garden, approaching the picnic bench where Tonks sat opposite Remus and Sirius, a fairly intoxicated Tonks shouted at them, "Oh, you're back, are you?"

James saluted her with his free hand, "Gracing you with our presence once again."

"Thought you were making yourself a cup of tea?" Tonks asked, raising her eyebrows and looking very interested, as Maia sat down beside her, James on her other side.

"We got distracted," Maia replied.

Sirius' face took on a look of disgust, "Gross," he muttered.

Under the table, Maia kicked him, "Oh shut up. Nothing like that. We were slightly distracted because a random house-elf turned up in our son's bedroom and insisted that he not go back to Hogwarts."

"What?" chorused Tonks, Remus and Sirius.

After filling the other occupants of the picnic table in on what had just occurred upstairs, all were concerned but agreed that they just couldn't see how this could be a real threat. Maia felt quite a lot better knowing that not only her husband, but two other aurors, not to mention people she'd trust with her life, agreed they shouldn't worry.

An hour or so later, Maia stifled a yawn behind her hand as she rested her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand, propping herself up.

"I think it might be time for bed," James chuckled, draining his glass of mead and putting it down.

Maia shook her head, aware that Sirius and Tonks were still having fun telling Remus yet another ridiculous story, the alcohol having livened them up and kept them going after a long week at work, where Maia was falling asleep without it. Not wanting to spoil the fun, she mumbled, "No, s'fine."

Sirius snorted, "You look like you're going to fall asleep at the table. Sis, I think you're getting old."

She rolled her eyes, "I have a tiring job."

"So do I!" Sirius insisted, his hand over his heart as if she'd wounded him, "that's why you should have had a little drink to liven you up."

James grinned and got to his feet, offering his hand out to his wife and telling the others, "I think we're going to leave the party. The kids will be in bed by now and we didn't intend it to be a late night. We've promised we'll take them down to the beach in the morning."

"I don't think we'll be far behind you," Remus nodded, to which Sirius and Tonks, who were pouring another drink each, protested loudly.

"Good night, you lot," Maia grinned, "sorry Sirius, but this old woman is going to bed. And as you're so fond of reminding me … you're _older_ than me."

Curled up together in bed soon after, James ran his fingers through his wife's dark curly hair and she sighed in contentment, snuggling into him, cheek resting on his chest.

"I could stay here like this forever," James mumbled.

Maia hummed in agreement, enjoying having her hair played with and being close to him, "It's not very practical though."

He chuckled, "Screw practicality. No-one would begrudge me staying in bed with such a beautiful woman."

Maia scoffed, though she was grinning, "I'm already in your bed, James Potter, so you don't need to woo me."

"Just try and stop me," he replied firmly.

She smiled, sleepily letting her eyes close as she argued, "Besides, I think Sirius and the kids would begrudge it. They're all looking forward to the beach now."

James chuckled, ducking his head down and pressing a kiss to the top of her head, "Alright then, go to sleep. Lots of sandcastles to build tomorrow."

The next day was indeed warm and sunny, and Maia and James were woken early by Lyra walking up and down the landing as loud as she could, trying to wake them so they'd take her to the beach sooner. The prospect of going to the beach was one of the only times Lyra would willingly get out of bed before lunch.

Maia packed up bags of sandwiches, drinks and leftover birthday cake, and with her husband, children and godson in tow, left for the nearby beach. They were joined not long after by Remus and Sirius, who brought the day's post with them.

Maia was watching James and the children splashing about in the sea, when Remus sat down beside her.

"Morning," she grinned, not taking her eyes from James, who had picked Lyra up and was wading into the water with her, loudly threatening to throw her under, earning loud protests and shrieks from her. Nearby, Neville and Harry were splashing about far more calmly.

Sirius tore past her without even a greeting, racing towards James and Lyra.

"Uncle Padfoot! Save me!" Lyra shouted when laying eyes on him.

"I'm coming, pup, I'm coming!" Sirius shouted, transforming into his animagus form of a big black dog as he moved, bounding into the water and proceeding to jump up at his brother-in-law.

"Sirius!" Remus hissed, looking around to see if anyone was nearby, but of course no-one was. Sirius wasn't stupid. It might be a nice day, but they lived on the outskirts of a village, and this beach was a small bay. The main stretch of beach in the area was a mile down the coast, and most people went there.

Maia rolled her eyes, pushing her sunglasses further up her nose and turning her attention to the pile of post. On top was the Daily Prophet, as usual, as well as James' monthly subscription to _Which Broomstick?_ there were also two envelopes addressed in the same large loopy handwriting. One to "Harry Potter" and the other to "Mr and Mrs Potter."

Curiously, Maia reached for the envelope addressed to she and James and began to open it, as Remus picked up the Daily Prophet and opened it to the first page.

 _Dear Mr and Mrs Potter,_

 _We hope you and the children are enjoying your summer, and Harry enjoys (or enjoyed, depending on when you get this) his birthday, and received Ron's gift earlier in the week.  
Ron has included a letter with this, to invite Harry to stay at our house before the end of the summer, so I am writing to ask your permission, and reassure you that we'd be very happy to have him, and he'd be very well looked after. I know Ron is getting restless and missing his friends, so we're inviting Hermione and Neville to stay too.  
If Harry would like to come, we could collect him on the second Saturday in August, and he could stay with us for the remaining two weeks of the summer holidays.  
Please return yours and Harry's replied with our owl Errol as soon as you think Errol is up to the task. I'm afraid he's rather old, so he might need a little rest first. _

_With Best Wishes,  
Molly Weasley._

Maia had no doubt that Harry would want to go stay with Ron for the last two weeks of the holidays, given the option. He was also getting restless, missing his school friends, and had written to Ron and Hermione every week, as well as seeing Neville a few times each week. There was little for him to do at home, and he had already been at home, bored, for several weeks.

She had never sent her son away anywhere other than to school, and although she was at work every day, she was very much enjoying having him at home and getting to see him on evenings and weekends, and other times around her work shifts. This was two weeks earlier than she had thought she'd be parting with him. Still, if Harry wanted to go, he should of course, go.

It would be strange knowing he was sitting at dinner in someone else's house, not very far away, in comparison to Hogwarts, but still not at home. And she would absolutely have to see him off to Hogwarts herself.

It had until this moment, felt like a long time until her precious eldest child and only son, was going back to school, and it would be months before she saw him again, but now it was feeling very real. It would be easier than it had been the year before, in many ways, but she imagined it would be so much harder next year, when Lyra also left.

"Everything alright?" Remus asked, looking up from his paper and frowning at her.

Maia realised she must have suddenly looked disappointed, or upset, and quickly schooled her features, for fear of making him worry that there was something seriously wrong. "Everything's fine," she assured him, waving the letter, "this is from Molly Weasley. They've invited Harry to stay with them for the last two weeks of summer."

Remus offered her an understanding smile, "I see."

Maia sighed, handing him the letter, "Don't give me that sympathetic smile. I know I'm clingy, I'm over protective. Stifling. I just can't help it. I'm going to let him go, of course, I just hate saying goodbye."

"I know. It's natural, I'm sure," he told her, scanning the letter.

"Sometimes I think I'm crazy when it comes to those kids," Maia said, a smile now crossing her face as she turned her attention back to the sea, watching her family play.

Remus actually snorted. "Course you are. But I think crazy just runs in your family."

With that, he nodded towards the water, where Sirius, still in his canine form, was chasing Lyra along the sand, getting just close enough to nudge her back with his nose.

Maia laughed, "Sadly, I think you're right." After a second's pause, she added, "what time did Tonks leave last night? I didn't hear the three of you come in."

"She apparated home an hour or so after you went to bed," Remus supplied, a fond smile crossing his face, "personally I think she was in no state to be apparating, but she insisted she was fine, and started walking in a straight line, reciting the alphabet backwards, to prove it."

Maia grinned, "That sounds about right. She's a lot of fun, Tonks is."

"She is," Remus agreed.

Maia was sure her suspicions about Remus' feelings for Tonks not being completely platonic, were correct, and she didn't dare voice it outright, but she was sure it had been a long time since she'd seen that particular look on his face when talking about a woman, or indeed the look he got when she laughed at his jokes. She was also sure Tonks was especially bright around Remus.

"She likes you," Maia said, a smirk pulling at the corners of her mouth as she waited to see how he'd respond.

Remus frowned slightly but recovered quickly, "I can't imagine Tonks dislikes anyone. She doesn't have it in her."

" _Yeah_ ," Maia agreed, "but … she _likes_ you. And I thought maybe you-" she trailed off.

Remus was silent for a moment, but then replied, "Don't think I don't know when you're trying to interfere," he said, though his tone was good natured, almost teasing.

"I'm not, I just-"

Remus interrupted, "There are a thousand reasons why what you're implying is nonsense. Not least, the fact that your _19 year old_ cousin certainly _does not_ have any romantic interest in a shabby, poor, much older, werewolf."

Maia rolled her eyes, "You should give yourself more credit."

"Maia," he said, eyes narrowed a fraction, tone slightly less teasing.

Maia rolled her eyes and held up her hands in surrender before he could say another word, "Alright, _alright_ , I'm not saying anything else about it."

"Good."

She sighed, "But I _really_ wish you'd get over this ridiculous thing you have in your mind, that you're somehow _unworthy_ of anyone else."

Remus almost growled as he replied, "I thought you were dropping the subject?"

There was no time to argue back, because Sirius chose that moment to bound up to them, still in dog form and being chased by Lyra. The big black dog looked very happy as he stopped in front of Maia and Remus, dropping water all over the sand and suddenly looking far more mischievous than any real dog ever could.

"Sirius, don't you dare," Maia told him sternly, narrowing her eyes.

Remus looked confused for only half a second before he caught on, also narrowing his eyes at the wet dog, "Sirius-"

Heavy droplets of cold sea water hit Maia as the dog shook his whole body, soaking she, Remus and Lyra, and she groaned, holding her hands up in front of her face in a vain effort to protect herself. When the soaking stopped, she lowered her hands and glared at her brother.

Lyra was laughing madly, despite being also soaked, and out of the corner of her eye, Maia saw Remus reach into his pocket and withdraw his wand.

"Sirius Black," Maia spoke in a dangerously calm voice, "if you're not careful, I'm going to transfigure you into a flea and make sure you stay that way."

Sirius still looked quite happy, tongue and tail wagging madly, and he leapt towards Remus, leaning up and licking his face, causing Remus to moan in disgust, trying to push the dog away and jab him with his wand.

"Sirius," Remus said sternly, brandishing his wand, "I suggest you start running."

Whatever else he was, Sirius was not stupid, and although Remus was supposed to be the most sensible, he was not to be tested. With that, the black dog started to run across the beach.

"Are you going to catch him, Uncle Moony?" Lyra asked eagerly.

Remus grinned at his beloved goddaughter and got to his feet, "Of course. Are you going to help me?"

Lyra tore off across the sand, Remus following closely behind her, and Maia smiled as she watched the pair of them, only looking away when a shadow fell across the sand in front of her and she looked up to see James.

She grinned, "Well hello. Got bored of the sea, did you?"

James beamed, flopping onto the sand beside her and reaching into the picnic basket for a slice of birthday cake, "Saw you over here on your own and thought I'd come and keep you company."

Maia smiled, reaching over and kissing his cheek, "You're sweet."

"You smell like wet dog," James replied, leaning back and frowning at her, then looking her up and down, "and you look wet too."

She scoffed, reaching into her pocket, grasping her wand and casting a spell to dry herself. She'd been quite distracted by watching Remus and Lyra chase Sirius in his dog form, that she'd not thought to immediately do so.

"Better," she announced.

"Much better," James agreed, through a mouthful of cake.

Maia rolled her eyes at him, watching Neville and Harry walking by the edge of the water, and only a second or so later, she felt his arm around her shoulders and couldn't help but smile.

"We have a letter," she told him, closing her eyes behind her sunglasses and resting her head on his shoulder, "from Molly Weasley."

"Oh? What does she want?" James asked, quickly looking around and locating the parchment in question.

"They've invited Harry to stay with them for the last two weeks of summer," Maia told her husband. He nodded in response, the hand around her shoulders trailing lazily from her shoulder down to her elbow and back again as he read the letter.

When he was finished, he tossed it aside, "Well now, I'm sure Harry will love that."

"He will," Maia agreed, "he'll have a great time." A second later, she added with a sigh, "Jamie, he's growing up so fast."

James chuckled a little, kissing her head gently, burying his lips in her hair, "I know. Second year at Hogwarts already, and he's doing so _well_. Gryffindor seeker at the age of _eleven_!"

Maia let out a little laugh – trust James to always bring it back to quidditch. But they'd both been so unbelievably proud of their boy when they heard the news. James had told every single person he came across at the ministry for weeks afterwards. It was one of the things Maia adored about her husband – how much he doted on their children, how he'd do anything for them and for her, and how he was so good with them.

"I just hope he keeps out of trouble this year," Maia said, though she knew it was probably in vain – he shared the blood of half of the Marauders, after all.

Still, Harry hadn't actually spent his first year at school getting into the sort of trouble they had in their school days. He hadn't pulled pranks, turned all the Slytherins' hair pink or anything. No, he'd just fought a mountain troll, been caught out of bounds smuggling a dragon out of the school at midnight (not that the school knew about the dragon, they thought he'd just been messing about), and broke about 50 school rules saving the Philosopher's Stone from a teacher possessed by Voldemort himself.

"It can't be any worse than last year," James told her brightly, kissing her cheek this time.

"Hope so," she replied, letting herself relax against him, relishing in the feeling of the sun beating down on her face and her husband's familiar touch. Sighing, she said, "I _am_ proud of him going to school and doing great things, and getting to learn all the amazing things we did, getting to experience all the magic of Hogwarts, but … they're just growing up so quick. It'll be Lyra's turn next year."

James scoffed, "Good luck to the teachers who'll be putting up with her," he said, stroking her arm lightly, "and I know, I know. I mean, I for one, don't feel nearly old enough to have two school age children."

Maia laughed – James always knew exactly what to say to make her smile. She knew he'd miss Harry just as much as she would, and he was just as worried about Harry as she was, given all he'd been through, but she also knew that he'd be fine, and they'd be fine. They always were.

"You're 32," she told him, rolling her eyes fondly, "hardly _old_."

"Still," he replied, "feels like only 2 minutes since I was your handsome, dashing new husband and now our boy is _12_."

Lifting her head from his shoulder and turning to look at him, Maia smiled, lifting a hand to cup his cheek, thumb brushing gently over his skin, "Darling husband," she said, in a dramatic voice which made him grin, "you're more handsome now than ever."

He smirked, eyes flickered down to her lips, "Glad to hear it."

She grinned, letting her eyes flick from his deep hazel eyes to his full lips, her hand moving from his cheek to the back of his head, fingers brushing through his messy hair, "Ageing like Madam Rosmerta's finest mead."

He chuckled and closed the small gap between them, pressing his lips to hers, kissing her softly and sweetly, "I'm glad you think so."

As she turned to watch Harry and Neville, and Sirius, Remus and Lyra, checking everyone was alright, and letting her hand drop back into her lap, Maia felt James' hand come to rest on her stomach as he moved his arm from around her shoulders, to around her waist. It was a habit she'd noticed him take on as their attempts for another child continued, as if he was trying to connect with the life that might already be growing inside her. Sometimes it was annoying, sometimes it was endearing. Right now, when she was ovulating, it was endearing. In the middle of the month, if the pregnancy tests had just come back negative, it would be annoying.

"I've been thinking," James said quietly, in a tone that Maia _knew_ meant he was up to something – whatever he had to say, he thought it was a subject to be broached carefully.

"Have you?" she asked carefully, narrowing her eyes and she turned her face up to look at him.

"It was just a thought but … when we have this baby …"

She sighed heavily, "James, I'm not even pregnant yet, as far as we know. I feel like you're … I don't want to jinx it."

"It's going to happen, I'm telling you," he replied firmly, confidently, looking into her eyes, "we've got plenty of time. It'll happen."

She smiled at his confidence, but a moment later, all that faded and he suddenly looked suspicious, nervous, looking away from her and watching their daughter play with her uncles.

"James?" she prompted.

He cleared his throat, still not looking at her, "When we have this baby, he or she is going to be a lot younger than Harry and Lyra, and I know those two haven't always got on swimmingly, but they've done pretty well, and I think it's been nice for them to grow up with a playmate, and it'll be even nicer when they're older, and they can confide in each other and help each other out, and … and this new baby won't have that companionship, not quite in the same way anyway ... I mean, unless it's twins, and I was just thinking …"

He trailed off and Maia stared at him in surprise. It wasn't often that her husband was lost for words, or appeared nervous, especially when he was asking her for something, since they were usually so in tune. She mulled over his words and narrowed her eyes slightly, looking at his profile as he continued to look towards the sea, "James?" she prompted further.

He bit his lip, then said very quickly, "I was thinking that when we have this baby, maybe we could try for another, just one more, so they'd have each other for company, and wouldn't it be great to have two little ones to raise together? And I love you, and I love the kids, and I've always wanted a big family, and I want this baby to have everything in the world, and I thought maybe that could include a built-in playmate, a friend."

A moment of silence followed, and as Maia took in his words and realised what he'd just suggested, she didn't know what to say. He turned to look at her now, meeting her eyes, looking a little hopeful, but also scared that she'd be angry at his suggestion, and almost like he wished he hadn't brought it up, and was waiting for her to explode at the thought.

Instead, she couldn't stop herself from laughing at his panic-stricken expression, but also his excitement at the prospect of a new baby, which was so great that he was already considering its life, and everything he wanted him or her to have, and how excited he was to be getting so ahead of himself.

"What?" James demanded in confusion, leaning away from her and studying her face and her body as she shook his laughter, his arm dropping from around her waist, "what are you _laughing_ at?"

Trying to suppress her giggles, Maia shook her head and then reached out to take hold of both of his hands, "Oh James, you just sound so scared and nervous."

He frowned at her, "Well it's a pretty big thing to suggest. It took you months to decide whether you wanted number three. I honestly thought you might slap me for suggesting number four already. I just … what's so funny?" he asked in frustration as she just grinned at him.

Maia composed herself and squeezed his large hands in hers, "James, it _does_ frustrate the hell out of me that we haven't even conceived our third child, and you've got a fourth on your mind-"

"I'm sorry, I just-"

"I'm not finished," she sighed, smiling at him, trying to get him to understand that she wasn't mad, and in fact, it was a bit funny, " _but_ I love that you're so invested in this, and you love so deeply, and you're so excited already."

Most people wouldn't have thought it possible, but James Potter actually blushed, eyes moving away from hers, down to their joined hands.

Maia continued, "As for whether I think it's a good idea … maybe let's just focus on this one for now. I know what you're saying … Merlin knows I think it's important for kids to grow up surrounded by friends and family who love them, but let's not run before we can walk."

James met her eyes again, and he looked so hopefully that Maia sighed – how was she ever going to be able to say no to this man?

"That wasn't a no," James pointed out, some triumph in his smile.

She shook her head at him and shoved his shoulder playfully, "You're just determined to get a full quidditch team out of me."

"I just always loved the thought of a big family," he replied with a smirk, throwing his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close again.

She laughed, still thinking about the audacity of the man, daring to bring up the subject of a fourth baby before they'd even had a third, but knew there was no point having a serious debate about it until it was closer to the time.

As they watched Sirius, still in dog form, leap into the sea and start splashing Harry and Neville now, James brushed her cheek with his lips again, "Don't misunderstand me though, love," he said softly, "I'm perfectly happy with you, Harry and Ly. I'm sure baby number three will happen for us, and I'd be keen on a number four, but I don't _need_ it. I have everything I need. I don't want you to think that I'm not happy with everything I have already."

She smiled at his sweetness, "I know you're happy. You think after all these years, I don't know everything about you?"

He chuckled, and for a second Maia enjoyed the sun shining on the, the sand between her toes, her husband's body warm against hers, and then she saw her dog-form brother splashing in the sea, being berated by Remus, as Lyra laughed madly.

"Mum!" Harry shouted loudly, waving over at his parents, "aren't you coming in?!"

She grinned at the sight of her 12 year old son splashing about in the sea, wanting her to go and join in the fun – she and James would have their much longed for third child, on days like this, when she was in a good mood, she was sure of it. But for now she had her daughter, wild and mischievous as she may be, and she had her beloved son, who might be the Boy Who Lived, but was thankfully still very devoted to his mother.

"Mum, help!" Harry laughed, "Sirius is soaking us all!"

"I'm coming!"


	3. Diagon Alley

Chapter Three

On the second Saturday in August, Harry stood in the hallway of Potter Manor, a fully packed trunk at his feet and his beautiful snowy owl, Hedwig, in her cage.

At his side, Maia glanced at her watch and then rolled her eyes as she looked up the staircase, " _James_! It's nearly four o' clock!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" came James' reply, sounding quite far away, though a second later, there was a loud cracking noise, and he appeared at her side, grinning and ruffling his hair with one hand.

"Oh _stop_ that, you still think it makes you look cool," Maia told him, rolling her eyes, though she couldn't help but smile fondly.

"I don't need to _try_ to look cool," James replied, looking mock-offended.

"You're such a dad," Maia replied, shaking her head at him before shouting over her shoulder towards the living room, "Lyra! Come and say goodbye to your brother."

"But I get to go see the train again, don't I?" Lyra asked, hurrying out of the living room, a note of panic in her voice.

James laughed, wrapping an arm around his daughter's shoulders, "Of course you do, angel. I doubt we could stop you."

"And I get to come to Diagon Alley too?" she pressed.

"Well obviously, silly," James replied, ruffling her hair, "we can't go to Fortescue's without you, can we? But you're not going to see your brother now until we go to Diagon Alley, so say goodbye."

Harry had very eagerly accepted Ron's invitation to stay for the last two weeks of the summer, and an exchange had begun between the two mothers, to determine the arrangements for picking him up.

Mrs Weasley had been keen not to put the Potters out, and suggested that Arthur would be able to come and collect Harry whilst she stayed at home with their other children, but it later became apparent that Mr Weasley might have to work that day, and Maia was pleased to realise she wouldn't be working, and told Mrs Weasley that she and James would be happy to drop Harry off.

Maia had been to Molly's house – The Burrow – once when she was much younger, very briefly, and remembered it being cosy and warm, full of life. She'd met Molly a few times, most recently on Platform Nine and Three Quarters, when they were picking their children up, and she seemed nice enough, though they didn't really know each other. Arthur however, she hadn't actually seen in years, though James crossed paths with him often at the ministry.

Harry had been looking forward to going to Ron's ever since he got the letter, and Maia was pleased he was making friends and would be enjoying the remainder of his summer, but knew she'd miss him.

Still, she and Mrs Weasley had agreed that Mrs Weasley would write to her when the children's Hogwarts letters came, and the Potters would meet them in Diagon Alley to purchase Harry's school things, and they would also come to King's Cross to see Harry off.

Lyra hugged Harry somewhat reluctantly, though Maia knew that for all her pretence, Lyra did actually miss her brother when he wasn't at home, and she especially missed not being able to pester both Neville and Harry at the same time.

Neville had also been invited to stay with the Weasley family for the last two weeks of the summer break, but his formidable grandmother had told him that she'd much rather her beloved grandson stay with her, and practically guilted him into staying at home with her. Neville was such a sweet, loving boy, that there was no way he'd say no. Not to mention he was a little scared of his grandmother. Hermione had also been invited but wouldn't be going because she was on holiday in France with her parents and wouldn't be back until the week before term started.

Lyra disappeared off into the living room, and both Sirius and Remus came into the hallway.

"Time to go, is it pup?" Sirius asked, striding towards Harry with his arms open and pulling him into a big bear hug.

Harry laughed as he enjoyed his uncle's huge hug, and when he was released, he had an equally warm, though less violent embrace, from Remus.

"Make sure you write to us," Sirius said mock-sternly, almost elbowing Remus out of the way so he would stand in front of his nephew again.

"Uncle Sirius, you'll see me at King's Cross in about two weeks," Harry said with a cheeky grin that Maia thought he'd inherited straight from his father.

James laughed, patting Harry's shoulder, "Son, you're crazy if you think Padfoot's going to miss an opportunity to come to Diagon Alley and look at broomsticks, so you'll see him even sooner."

"You're one to talk," Sirius sniped, throwing a playful glare at his brother-in-law, and then reaching out to pat Harry's cheek, "make sure you write to us. You know your mother goes crazy when she doesn't hear from you."

Maia gave a short laugh at her twin, "You're one to talk," she said, throwing his words back at him. Sirius had always loved Harry and Lyra as deeply as if they were his own children, and it had always made Maia think he'd be a wonderful father, if only he'd choose to settle down, but he was perfectly happy being a bachelor, he assured everyone.

"Right," James said decisively when Harry had said his goodbyes, which Harry himself privately thought were rather dramatic, given that he'd be seeing them all again quite shortly, "are we ready then?"

Buttoning her cloak under her chin and withdrawing her wand, Maia stepped towards the front door.

They would be apparating to the Weasleys' home, and like most magical homes, although apparition was possible within the house, it was not possible to apparate inside from outside, for security reasons, and the enchantment meant it was also impossible to apparate out. Instead, they would apparate from the very top of the garden, just beyond the grand gates to the property.

James had had a muggle driving license for years, although they'd never really had use for it. Last year they'd borrowed a ministry car to make the journey to King's Cross, but they'd since bought their own car. James had been so excited about it, even though they'd probably rarely use it. Still, there was no use driving Harry to the Weasleys if they didn't have to. It was no good travelling by floo either – Harry's trunk would make it awkward, and they had Hedwig to think about.

Harry lifted a hand to wave at Sirius and Remus and followed his mother out of the house. As Harry and his parents walked to the bottom off the garden, Harry carrying Hedwig's cage and James levitating the drunk in front of them, Remus and Sirius stood in the doorway of the house to wave them off.

"Have fun!" Sirius shouted after them, as they got just past the gates of the house.

Harry waved with a grin as Maia wrapped her arm around his firmly, and James took a firm hold of the trunk, and took Hedwig's cage from Harry.

"Hold on tight, Harry," Maia warned him – it wasn't often they apparated with the children, and Merlin forbid something should go wrong.

Feeling Harry's arm wound tightly around hers, Maia closed her eyes tightly and concentrated upon their destination. The familiar unpleasant tugging sensation filled her, pulling at her stomach, and then seconds later, her feet hit solid ground. She felt Harry sway at her side, and quickly gripped his arm to right him.

"We're … in the middle of a field," Harry said, looking around in some confusion.

Maia rolled her eyes at him, though she was amused, "Honestly Harry, you should have been a Ravenclaw with insight like that. You're just like your father," she teased.

"Hey!" James protested, handing Harry Hedwig's cage to Harry and frowning at Maia, "you don't get to be where I am without having some smarts."

"Of course, darling," Maia replied, patting his arm and looking around at their surroundings.

She lifted a hand and pointed to a house at the edge of the field. It was a tall, narrow farmhouse-style building, crooked as though more storeys had been added to it over the years. The gardens looked like a charming little farm, and Maia thought back to the only time she'd been here before. It didn't look like anything had changed, though her memory of the occasion was vague.

"Come on then," James said eagerly, setting off towards the house, "they're waiting for you!"

Maia grinned at Harry as they both followed. Maia was sure that her husband was hoping that there was some of Mrs Weasley's baking on offer, since Arthur always spoke highly of it. Maia herself was curious to see inside the house again and see the Weasleys again – Ron was a nice boy, and they'd had him to stay for Christmas several months ago, and she thought his older twin brothers were funny. They reminded her of Sirius and James, and Harry said they were always causing chaos. She had a funny feeling that Lyra would love them. Then of course, there was Ron's shy little sister, who had taken quite a shine to Harry – probably because all wizarding children grew up knowing his name, as if he were some kind of mythical being. The eldest two boys lived abroad, Maia thought she remembered Harry telling her, and one of the middle boys was a prefect who took his role very seriously.

Molly Weasley herself was a warm and welcoming woman, and she often appeared frazzled due to keeping her children – mainly her twins – in check. Harry knocked somewhat timidly on the door, and Mrs Weasley's voice could be almost immediately heard behind it.

"Ron! That'll be Harry, I told you he'd be here soon. _Ron_ , get down here!"

Mrs Weasley answered the door a second later, taking a moment to catch her breath and then beaming at them, "Oh Harry, hello dear, so nice to see you. Do come in! Mrs Potter, how are you? Here Mr Potter, give me Harry's trunk, I'll send it upstairs. _Do_ come in, all of you."

"Erm, hi Mrs Weasley," Harry smiled, glancing around the kitchen, trying to take everything in.

"Thanks Molly," James added as she flicked her wand and sent Harry's trunk flying off upstairs, "and really, you can just call us by our first names."

Maia smirked slightly, jerking her head in James' direction and telling Mrs Weasley in a conspiratorial voice, "He's never been good at formalities."

"I call you Mrs Potter all the time!" James protested, raising his eyebrows at his wife.

Maia shook her head, "Yeah, because you like the reminder that you managed to snag me."

He smirked, "Well, true."

Harry focused his gaze on the staircase that led directly into the kitchen, hoping Ron would appear soon. It was great that his parents were so in love, and so happy, but their constant flirting was often … embarrassing, for lack of a better word. And most of the time they didn't even know they were doing it.

"Ron!" Mrs Weasley called up the staircase again, shaking her head in exasperation, before going over to the stove and flicking her wand a few times, ensuring that whatever she was cooking maintained itself.

"Lovely home, Molly," Maia said in admiration.

Mrs Weasley turned to face her, her cheeks turning slightly red, "Well, it's probably not quite as grand as your house but … it's home."

"It's lovely," Maia reiterated as they all heard footsteps on the staircase, and moments later, Ron appeared, beaming when he saw his friend.

"Harry!" Ron grinned, jumping down the last few stairs and hurrying into the kitchen, "good to see you mate."

Harry beamed, "You too. How are you?"

"Nice to see you, Ron," James added, without waiting for Ron to answer Harry.

Ron gave James a somewhat nervous smile – Harry insisted that his parents were perfectly normal, and Ron had stayed in their house for two weeks at Christmas, but he still felt nervous around them. Harry's dad was Head Auror for Merlin's sake, and he was younger and just cooler than Ron's own dad, and Harry's mum was cool too, and so different to Ron's mum.

"Hello Mr Potter," Ron nodded, "hi Mrs Potter."

"Hi Ron," Maia smiled, "having a good summer?"

"Good thanks," Ron agreed.

"Ron dear, why don't you show Harry where he'll be sleeping, get him all settled?" Mrs Weasley suggested, "Harry, would you like anything to drink? Juice? Tea? Anything to eat?"

"I'm fine thanks, Mrs Weasley," Harry replied, his voice trailing off as there were footsteps on the staircase again and a red haired girl appeared on the steps.

"Mummy, have you seen – o-oh," the girl started, cutting herself off immediately when she saw Harry. Maia smiled at the Weasley's only daughter, who she knew was quite in awe of Harry, maybe had a little crush on him.

"Yes, Ginny dear?" Mrs Weasley prompted.

Ginny flushed bright red and said very quickly, "Have you seen my cardigan? The blue one?"

"You left it on the sofa," Mrs Weasley supplied, and the words were barely out of her mouth before the little girl ran from the room.

Harry looked stunned at her behaviour and frowned at Ron, "What was that all about?"

Ron rolled his eyes, "Don't mind _her_. She's been talking about you all summer. She _fancies_ you."

"Ron! Don't embarrass your sister. Go show Harry where he'll be staying," Mrs Weasley reprimanded, to which Ron's ears flushed at being scolded and he led a bewildered Harry up the staircase.

Once the boys were out of earshot, Mrs Weasley sighed, shaking her head a little, "Poor Ginny … six older brothers, always someone to embarrass her."

Maia grinned, "Blimey, I only had one older brother and that was enough for me. Mind you, James was just as overprotective and annoying as my brother. Still is," she added, jerking her head in his direction.

Mrs Weasley smiled at the pair of them and then confided, "Ginny really does have the sweetest little crush on Harry, you know."

Maia laughed, not unkindly, "Ah young love." To James, she added, "did you see the look on Harry's face? I'm sure he's still at the age where girls are weird and he doesn't understand them."

James chuckled, "I'm not sure I understand them either."

Mrs Weasley smiled – the Potters were a nice couple, they were easy to get on with, they were fun, and it was rare that she got adult company other than her husband, who was always at work. The next words were out of her mouth before she'd even thought about it, "Won't you stay for a cup of tea? I'll put the kettle on. And I made some fudge yesterday … there's still a lot left."

Maia smiled, "Oh Molly, we don't want to put you out …"

"Don't be silly," Mrs Weasley replied, waving off the comment, "I'd be glad of the company. Please, go through to the living room. Milk? Sugar?"

"Milk no sugar, for both of us, thanks," Maia said, before turning around to go into the living room. She felt James close behind her, resting his hand gently on her lower back, but once they were in the living room, James took a seat on the sofa, and Maia couldn't stop herself from drifting over to the mantelpiece and looking at the collection of photographs sitting there.

There were pictures of the many Weasley children at various ages, sometimes accompanied by a smiling, waving Molly or Arthur. Maia smiled – 7 children was certainly too many for her to comprehend, given how much of a handful her two were, but the Weasleys were certainly lucky to be blessed with such a large, happy family.

"Are you being nosy, love?" James asked in amusement, reclining back on the sofa.

Maia rolled her eyes at him over her shoulder, "I'm just … looking," she insisted, before turning back to the mantle.

Her eyes fell on what looked like a fairly recent picture of Molly and Arthur, sitting in some sort of tavern, tankards on the table in front of them, wrapped up warm in big thick coats, and a beaming, red-haired young man between them. One of the oldest two boys, she concluded.

In the other room, they heard loud footsteps on the staircase, and two new voices, nattering their mother, talking over each other. Molly soon put an end to this.

"Boy!" they heard her cry in exasperation, "honestly, can't you stop harassing me for two minutes? For Merlin's sake, you left your exploding snap in the living room, on the coffee table. But we have _guests_ so at least make yourself useful and take this fudge in."

Without even looking around, Maia knew James' eyes had lit up upon hearing about the fudge.

"Guests?" identical voices chorused, and from a brief previous meeting, Maia knew that these had to be the twins, Fred and George. She and James had met them when Harry was in the hospital wing a couple of months previously, and they, along with the rest of the quidditch team had tried to visit Harry. They had also tried to send him a toilet seat, which James and Maia had thought was quite funny, although they were glad it had been confiscated before it ever reached him.

"Mr and Mrs Potter," Molly clarified, "come on, get the fudge. Be careful."

Moments later, Mrs Weasley led the way into the living room, suspending a tray laden with tea in front of her with her wand. Her twin sons followed behind her, one of them carrying a large tartan biscuit tin.

Mrs Weasley set the tray down on the coffee table and then leaned down to pick up a stray pack of exploding cards, turning to hand them to the boy stood closest to her, "Here," she said, "just _don't_ play them outside Percy's bedroom door again – he's very busy you know, reading up on his subjects for the new semester. Oh I do hope he's got all the O. he needs."

"Don't worry Mum," the boy she had handed the cards to said, as his twin handed a beaming James the tin of fudge, " _perfect Percy_ will have everything he needs."

"Thanks for the tea, Molly," Maia beamed, stepped away from the mantelpiece and moving to sit beside James, as Molly gave her son a sharp glare for making fun of his older brother. In an attempt to diffuse the tension, Maia smiled at the boys too, "Hello boys, enjoying your summer?"

"Yes thanks, Mrs Potter," grinned one twin.

"Just a shame we have to go back to school," the other added.

"Now, now," James tutted, "you won't be saying that when you're our age. I'd love to be back at the old place. Causing a bit of mischief, annoying old Filch-"

The Weasley twins were grinning, much to their mother's dissatisfaction, and Maia cleared her throat, throwing James a quick glance, "Now, now, darling, you don't want to be giving the boys ideas."

Mrs Weasley sighed, "Oh they don't need anyone to lead them astray. Sending a _toilet seat_ to the hospital wing, I ask you!"

Maia failed to keep a straight face, "Well, it gave James and me a good laugh, I must admit. So boys – Fred and George - I'm sorry, which one is which?"

"I'm Fred, Mrs Potter," said one boy, who was wearing a navy blue jumper.

"And I'm George," the one in maroon added.

"Not that anyone can really tell them apart," Mrs Weasley added, settling down into an armchair and picking up her own cup of tea, "even me, sometimes."

Maia smirked slightly and winked at the boys, "No worry about that, I'm a twin myself."

James scoffed, his mouth full of fudge, "You're not an _identical_ twin."

" _So_? I can still tell twins apart. It's a gift," she insisted, before adding to Molly and gesturing at the mantelpiece, "this is a lovely living room, by the way. Very homely. It's nice to see so many family pictures. My kids – and my brother – never sit down long enough for us to get decent pictures."

Mrs Weasley's cheeks flushed, "Oh, well, I spend all day here, so it's nice to make it homely. And with my oldest two boys living abroad, I like to have plenty of pictures. Do you know about them? My oldest, Bill, is in Egypt, with Gringotts, and Charlie's in Romania, handling dragons."

"Mum tells everyone about them, all the time," Fred told Maia, rolling his eyes and starting to shuffle the cards in his hands as he and his twin moved towards the kitchen door.

"Well if you two start taking your studies more seriously and do as well, I'll brag about you too!" Mrs Weasley retaliated, though she was grinning.

"The picture in the middle, of you and Arthur, and one of the boys," Maia started politely, "is that Charlie or Bill?"

Mrs Weasley glanced at the picture in question and then smiled lovingly, "Charlie," she replied, "from Christmas just gone – you remember, Arthur and I went out to visit him?"

"Handsome boy," Maia noted, "I can't believe the last time I saw him he was about 4!"

Fred and George were loitering in the doorway like typical nosy teenagers who didn't want to miss any part of an adult's conversation, for fear of missing something exciting.

Mrs Weasley chuckled, "That's right, I'd quite forgotten you'd met him."

"You have?" George asked curiously.

"Took quite a shine to you too," James added with a cheeky grin.

"He _did_?" Fred asked, grinning with all the mirth of a boy who had just found out a very entertaining secret.

"Oh it was years and years ago," Maia told the twins, "James and I were just married, and we lived not so far away from here. Used to occasionally cross paths with your mum and dad, and little Bill and Charlie, and baby Percy, when we were walking through the village. Or sometimes with your uncles."

"That's right," Molly said softly, "the first time you ever came here, Maia. With Gideon, remember?"

The twins looked most intrigued – their mother rarely talked about her brothers.

"Of course," Maia grinned. For the benefit of the twins, she added, "I was out shopping in the village, ran into your uncle Gideon. He was looking after your three older brothers, and little Charlie just kept asking me questions and clinging to me, bless him. Then he fell and scuffed his knee and he wouldn't stop crying, and Gideon had his hands full, so I carried Charlie back here."

"He was always trying to talk to you, or hiding shyly behind my legs and staring at you, if ever we crossed paths in the village," Molly laughed.

"Charlie, that is," James added to the twins, "although Gideon was just as bad."

George let out a low whistle, "Well, there's one to remind our dear big brother of."

Fred grinned too, "Little baby Charlie had a crush on Harry Potter's mum, who'd have thought it."

Maia laughed, a faint blush rising in her cheeks, before Molly warned her sons not to send over an immediate owl to tease their brother, and sent them out of the room.

The Potters stayed a while, chatting to Mrs Weasley and drinking tea, until their cups were long empty and they decided they should really be getting home.

Having called her son down to say goodbye, Maia rested her hands on his shoulders, "Ok sweetie, you know how to get in touch with us if you need anything."

"Yes Mum," Harry said with a faint smile.

Maia nodded, "And behave yourself. No getting into any trouble."

" _Mum_ ," he sighed, "I won't get into any trouble _here_."

"I should hope not. And we'll see you-"

"In Diagon Alley," Harry finished, "I know."

Maia smiled and leaned down to press a kiss to her son's forehead, "Have fun."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do, kiddo," James grinned, stepping up and hugging his son tightly when Maia let go of him, his words causing Maia to wince – what _wouldn't_ her husband do?

About a week later, Maia woke up to a gentle tickling feeling. Eyes still closed, she whined slightly, trying to let sleep pull her back under, but failing against the gentle tickle on her arm.

" 'M sorry," she heard James mumble from beside her, where he was pressed up against her, one arm draped over her waist, sounding a little resigned, "did I wake you?"

"Mmm," Maia hummed in agreement, forcing one eye open, then the other, to find him leaning over her, hair adorably messy from sleep, hazel eyes shining happily, though he hadn't bothered to reach over for his glasses yet. " 'S'ok though," she said, lifting one hand to cup his cheek and brushing her thumb over his cheekbone.

"Missed you this week," James told her, turning his head slightly so he could press a kiss to the palm of her hand.

Maia nodded, "I know. Night shifts are the worst."

Maia had spent the last several days working night shifts at the hospital, which meant she got home from work in the mornings just before James left, and by the time he got home, she had only a couple of hours with her family before she was leaving for work.

"At least I have you to myself for a couple of days now," James grinned, flopping down onto his back and wrapping his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his chest and resuming drawing invisible patterns on her body with his fingertips.

Maia chuckled, "Sharing me with the rest of the family, I think you'll find. For my two precious days off. Count yourself lucky that my "off" days fell this weekend, and not while you were working."

"Oh my darling, I'd have gone crazy," James sighed dramatically, "but instead, I get this wonderful lazy Saturday morning with my dearest darling wife."

"You're laying it on thick," Maia told him.

"Can't I tell you how much I love you?" James asked, suddenly turning onto his side and propping himself up on one elbow so he could hover over her, pushing her hair out of her face and cupping her cheek.

"I know what you're doing," Maia replied, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"I'm not doing anything," James replied, though his lips were turned up into a mischievous smirk as he leaned down and started peppering kiss along her jawline, up to the sensitive spot behind her ear.

Holding back a spontaneous giggle, Maia let out a shaky breath as his lips ghosted across her skin and she tried to muster up some words, "Jamie …. Jamie you're being … extra nice."

"I'm always nice, love," James insisted, one hand gripping her hip as he continued his ministrations, unable to resist kissing the exposed column of her neck.

"You're trying to cheer me up," Maia accused gently, reaching up and wrapping her arms around him, hands splayed across his back, pulling him closer to her.

Two days previously, Maia had revealed to her husband, for the fifth month since they had started trying to conceive their third child that she was not pregnant, and since they'd hardly seen each other, they hadn't really spoken about it.

James sighed softly, pausing to look into her eyes, bringing his hand to gently brush her cheek with the back of one large hand, "Can you blame me? I hate it when you get down."

"I'm not down," Maia replied.

"Yeah?" James asked, eyes narrowed slightly, not believing her because he knew her too well, "it's …. It's ok, love," he insisted, leaning in and kissing her lips lightly, his fingers brushing her waist, "it'll happen. It'll be ok."

"I know," Maia mumbled against his lips, though she wasn't so sure.

"We've still got plenty of time," James grinned, his hand sliding down to draw her leg up over his hip as he claimed her lips again.

Some time later, Maia curled into James' side, feeling satisfied and sleepy, with her husband's warm arms wrapped around her.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"10," James replied, after a brief glance at the clock.

Maia sighed, "Darling, we'd better get up," she mumbled, trying to sit up, "we're wasting the day here, and I was looking forward to spending a weekend with you."

James chuckled, tightening his arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him, "Oh love, a day spent in bed with you isn't a day wasted."

Maia laughed, full and loud, "Oh you absolute flirt," she told him, "let me up, James Potter. I need to get dressed-"

"But you could just spend all day in my dressing gown," James replied quickly, almost pouting.

Maia scoffed, "Sometimes I think you forget that we're not still teenagers. Lyra will be up soon. I'm sure she'd appreciate a nice breakfast. I feel like I haven't seen her in days either. And then I was thinking, a little walk into the village? Stop by the café? A walk on the beach?"

"Whatever you want, love," James replied, reluctantly releasing her, "did I succeed in cheering you up, at least?"

Maia smiled at her husband upon seeing how sincere he looked, and how he genuinely wanted to have pleased her, and she leaned back towards him and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips, letting one hand run through his rumpled hair. She could hardly believe that he'd made the disappointment she felt at her negative pregnancy tests, feel so much better than it had an hour previously.

"You always do, Jamie. Thank you."

Maia dressed in a casual set of navy robes and let her hair, which was usually all pinned back for work, fall loose around her shoulders. As she left the bathroom, James, clad only in underwear, planted a kiss on her cheek before claiming the bathroom himself.

Breezing down the stairs and into the kitchen, Maia knew someone had already been up, as there were bits of crockery and cutlery in the sink. She turned the kettle on with a flick of her wand and started rooting through the fridge for something to eat, and hadn't been at it long before she heard a voice behind her.

"Morning sis, nice to finally see you awake!"

Maia turned to see her twin, clutching a mug of tea, the Daily Prophet under his arm. She rolled her eyes, "It's not _that_ late."

"There's some bacon left," Sirius said by way of an answer, hopping up to sit on one of the counters, "I was going to have it all for breakfast, but left some for you."

"Very generous," Maia laughed, fishing it out of the fridge and getting to work making her and James some breakfast.

Sirius watched her curiously, taking in the way she almost danced around the kitchen, humming lightly to herself, a slight smile on her face. It was nice to see her like that – it was natural to not see each other much in the week, apart from quick breakfasts and dinners together, depending on her shifts, and he had always loved her company. Still, she was making him suspicious.

"Someone's in a good mood," he commented.

Not turning to face him, not wanting him to see her blush, Maia shrugged, "It's Saturday and I'm not working – that's always a reason to be in a good mood."

Before she could make any further comment, James came striding into the room, a wide grin on his face. "Morning Padfoot!" he grinned as he strode over to his wife, "and good morning, darling wife."

He planted an over-dramatic kiss on her cheek, and she laughed, cheeks turning a light pink and trying to shuffle away from her husband, so she could carry on making the breakfast.

As James busied himself with making two cups of tea, he hummed lightly to himself, and Sirius groaned.

"You two are _sickening_. Just … just gross."

" _What_?" James asked, throwing a confused look over his shoulder at his friend.

Sirius grimaced, waving his hand between the two of them, "You're … you know … all lovely and touchy, both humming away to yourself. As bad as newlyweds these days. You've got two kids for Merlin's sake, get hold of yourselves."

"What, you think after almost 13 years of marriage, you just stop getting frisky?" James asked his brother-in-law with a smirk, "we're still pretty young, you know!"

" _James_ ," Maia said sharply, a blush rising in her cheeks.

"Gross," Sirius commented, "that's my little baby sister!"

"Well you started this," James shrugged unapologetically, in too good a mood to filter his thoughts before he said them, "don't comment if you don't want to know."

Maia rolled her eyes fondly as she accepted a mug of tea James handed her, but she smiled widely when he accompanied the gesture with another kiss to her cheek. Sirius had no idea that she and James were trying to conceive another child, although Maia wasn't surprised that he'd noticed them spending more time in their bedroom – later lay ins on a weekend or heading to bed early.

"Still, _sickening,"_ Sirius said, though his lips twitched upwards into a slight smile at his sister's obvious happiness, "oh you have a letter, by the way. Arrived this morning. On the windowsill."

"Me?" she asked, crossing over to the windowsill, flicking her wand behind her at the bacon to send it flying onto the plates.

"Who's it from?" James asked curiously, sliding into a seat at the kitchen table after picking up his food.

"Molly Weasley," Maia answered a few moments later, scanning the letter, "oh. The Hogwarts letters have arrived. She wants to know when's a good time for us to meet to do the shopping? Apparently they were thinking about going on Wednesday, because Hermione Granger says that's when she's going, but Harry told her he thinks we can only do weekends."

James paused for a moment to think and then nodded, "Well, he's right. I don't much fancy shopping after work, although I suppose it's doable."

"I agree, weekends are better. Next weekend is cutting it a bit fine though. We could suggest tomorrow? Molly says they don't have plans," Maia suggested.

"Tomorrow it is," James agreed through a mouthful of food, "it's not as if we had any other plans, and it'll be good to see Harry. Padfoot, are you in?"

"Of course," Sirius replied, sounding outraged that James had even had to ask, "got to go check out that new nimbus, after all!"

"Ah," Remus chuckled as he strolled into the room, "is this a trip to Diagon Alley being planned?"

"Tomorrow, probably," James confirmed, "to get Harry's school things. Lyra will be ecstatic, I'm sure. Are you in?"

"I'm not sure that it takes all of us," Remus laughed, "I had planned on planning a few lessons for Lyra tomorrow. Got to get back on with the home-schooling once Hogwarts term starts again. It's my last year of forcing that girl into learning a bit of mathematics."

"Ah Moony, you're a saint," James beamed, patting his friend on the back as he took a seat, "I certainly couldn't do it but she just _listens_ to you."

"I think he bribes her," Maia grinned, "chocolate. The answer to everything, right?"

"I do not bribe her," Remus replied indignantly, "I'm just her favourite uncle."

Maia clucked her tongue, "Speaking of favourite uncles, that reminds me, we'll have to make this trip tomorrow early enough that we'll back in time for Regulus, who _still_ won't bring his girlfriend around."

" _Speaking of favourite uncles_?" Sirius echoed, "I wish you'd stop implying-"

"But Reggie _is_ her-"

"No, he's not, clearly I-"

"Sirius don't be-"

"I'm _not_ being ridiculous!"

Instead of continuing the disagreement, Maia stared down at letter from Molly, "Molly says the kids have been set _all eight_ Gilderoy Lockhart books!"

"That man is an idiot," Remus chipped in.

Maia scoffed, "Tell me about it. You should see how some of the nurses at work fawn over him. Especially when he wins Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile for the _millionth_ time running."

"The DADA professor must be some loopy witch with a crush," Sirius speculated.

"There's nothing wrong with being Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile though," James added, causing the others to all laugh at him.

"You _would_ say that," Sirius scoffed, "you've won it twice!"

"Three times," James corrected with a very pleased-with-himself grin. He might not be an actual celebrity but he and Maia were incredibly well known thanks to Harry, often photographed out and about, especially if they were with their children, and those gossip magazines had a fondness for all things Potter.

"Well, you _do_ have a charming smile," Maia admitted, "even though you know I hate every time that stupid magazine mentions a single word about any of us. Sirius you're just jealous that _you've_ never made the cut, despite being almost as well-known as Jamie, and still a "handsome bachelor", as I'm sure Witch Weekly would phrase it."

"Three times though …. Really?" Sirius asked his brother-in-law, "when was the _third_?"

James held up three fingers, ready to tick them off, "Number one was not long after Voldemort fell and it seemed like every publication in existence was writing about us, you remember that time – Maia went mad. Number two, a few months later when we were seen out with Lyra for the first time. And Number three – just after I became Head Auror. You definitely remember that time. "

Maia burst out laughing – she'd almost forgotten all about that, "Sirius, you were fuming, remember? Because the issue had a huge article on hottest ever ministry department heads, and you said it was unfair, because you're clearly the hottest ministry man there is, and it was unfair that the article was restricted to department heads."

"It was!" Sirius defended.

"Don't be jealous," James teased him, leaning back in his seat and flashing his brother-in-law a smile, "see? Charming, right?"

Maia laughed before conjuring up a piece of parchment, "I'll write to Molly then. Still … all eight Lockhart books. They're not even _defence_ books."

"I know," James, who had tons and tons of defence books both in his office at home and at work, not to mention in the manor's library, "that man is a fool. And his smile's not even as _good_ as mine."

"Oh shut up," Sirius grumbled.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, but Maia enjoyed spending the day with her family. Lyra was woken up when James bounded up the stairs and loudly announced that there were pancakes waiting for her. She was ecstatic at the prospect of a visit to Diagon Alley the next day, especially when James promised her a trip to Fortescue's.

Maia insisted that they go out for a nice walk into the village and then down to the beach, as she'd suggested to James earlier that morning. She strolled along happily, hand in hand with him, watching Sirius in his dog-form chasing Lyra along the beach, and at the end of the day, she revelled in being back in bed with James.

"Today was great," she mumbled as she climbed into the bed, pulling the duvet over her, flicking her wand towards the light switch on the other side of the room, before carefully putting her wand within reach of the bed.

James chuckled lightly, reaching out and draping an arm over her waist as he pressed himself up against her, "We didn't even do anything."

"Of _course_ we did. I got to spend the whole day with my man and my devil child daughter, and tomorrow we can see our boy and go to Diagon Alley. Doesn't matter how old you get, that place is always so wonderful."

"I know. Especially when there's a new broom out. Maybe we could get Harry it for Christmas?"

"He hasn't had the 2000 long!" Maia pointed out, "and the 2001 will be a fortune!"

"But he's Gryffindor _seeker_ ," James protested, running his hand up and down her arm, pulling her closer to him, "he needs the best of the best."

"Don't think I don't know your game James Potter. You're desperate to have a go on it yourself but you know you're too old to spend so much money on a broom for _yourself_."

"You haven't said no yet," James replied simply.

"I can never say flat out "no" to you," she sighed, "but Christmas is a long time away. We can discuss it closer to the time."

"Fine," James sighed in a resigned voice, though she could feel his smile as he pressed his face into her neck.

"Night, darling," Maia mumbled sleepily, gripping one of his arms and pulling it tighter around her body.

The next morning, Maia pulled a lightweight cloak around her shoulders as she, Sirius and James stood in front of the fireplace in the living room.

"Oh, where _is_ your daughter?" Maia sighed, reaching for the floo powder and looking up at James.

James grinned, amused, "Why is she _my_ daughter when she's annoying you?"

"Surely you don't need me to answer that," Maia scoffed, as she crossed the room and looked out of the room, towards the staircase and shouted, "Lyra Alice Potter! You'd better get down here soon or we're going without you!"

She heard a thud upstairs somewhere and footsteps on one of the upper landings, "Coming Mum!"

"Well get a move on!" Maia added, "Your brother will be waiting for us!"

When Lyra entered the living room soon after, Sirius cheered and reached out to pull her into a big hug, "Here she is! Looking forward to seeing Harry?"

Lyra nodded, "And getting some ice cream. And going to look at the cats in the pet shop."

"Alright, alright, let's get going then," Maia interrupted, holding her daughter's cloak out and gesturing for her to come and put it on. Once Lyra had both arms in it, Maia squeezed her shoulders lightly and leaned down to press a kiss to the top of her head, "alright sweetie, let's get going. Grab some floo powder."

Maia held out the pot of floo powder and James reached out and took a handful first, before stepping into the fireplace.

"Ok. Diagon Alley," James said confidently, before throwing the powder and becoming engulfed in emerald green flames. In a second, he was gone.

"You two next," Sirius said, taking the floo powder pot from Maia's hands and ushering them into the fireplace. Maia crammed herself into the back so there was enough room for Lyra too – at 10 years old, Lyra was getting a bit old to be travelling alongside Maia, but she couldn't even think of letting her daughter go alone. Grasping Lyra's hand tightly, Maia threw down the floo powder and spoke their destination.

After the usual unpleasant bumping journey, which always made her feel uncomfortable and left her lying on the floor in a most undignified manner, Maia found herself sitting the cold stone floor of the Diagon Alley floo network, coughing the soot out of her lungs, though still gripping her daughter's hand.

"There's my girls," James beamed, leaning down and holding out a hand to help Lyra to her feet first, then holding out a hand to Maia, grinning broadly, "every time."

Maia held his hand tightly as she got to her feet and she wasn't surprised when he reached out to wipe a smudge of soot from her cheek with his thumb. She was vaguely aware of Sirius appearing in the fireplace behind her but instead of turning to face him, looked around the large room full of fireplace, looking for her son.

"There they are," she smiled happily, upon seeing Mr and Mrs Weasley surrounded by their children. She started towards them, but the closer she got, the more she noted that she was yet to see Harry. And Mrs Weasley was looking too concerned for her liking.

"Molly!" Maia called out as she got closer to the Weasleys, "how are you all? Erm … where's Harry?"

James was only one step behind her, and seemed not to have noticed the lack of Harry yet, as he was busy chatting away to his daughter. Once he reached her side, he beamed at the Weasleys, "Molly! Good to see you." He nodded at Mr Weasley, who he saw regularly at the ministry, "Arthur, how are you? Ermm … have you met my wife? Probably not recently. Anyway, this is Maia. And our daughter Lyra."

"Arthur! Good to see you," Sirius grinned as he caught up to them.

"Molly, where's Harry?" Maia asked bluntly as she looked around at them all, a sinking feeling in her chest. She saw Ginny, Ron, the twins and Percy, but no Harry.

Mrs Weasley grimaced, "Not to worry I'm sure, but we think he might have accidentally travelled to the wrong place. Got his words muddled up, you know? Perhaps a grate or so ahead. I-I'm sure he can't be far. Oh Maia, I'm so sorry."

A short silence followed as Maia tried to process this – her son, missing. Mr and Mrs Weasley didn't seem to know what to say, instead waiting for some reaction, and the children were all staring at the adults in concern.

Maia took a deep breath, "He's …. He's missing?" she asked, unable to keep the note of hysteria out of her voice – especially when her boy was prone to disaster.

James and Sirius exchanged a glance, both concerned about their boy, but well aware of how best to keep Maia calm and try to handle the situation rationally.

Sirius gently rested a hand on his sister's shoulder, "Maia, we need to be calm. He's probably just the next grate over. Happens all the time when the words get a bit confused. You know that."

Maia swallowed hard and nodded, "Yes. J-James what's one grate over? Knockturn Alley? How about in the other direction? We need to get looking! He's Harry Potter for Merlin's sake! If anyone bad gets hold of him-"

" _Maia_ ," James interrupted her firmly, well aware that the only thing that could shake up his fearless strong wife, was the thought of anything happening to her children, "we should go looking for him. Sirius and I will head for Knockturn Alley. You stay here with Lyra in case Harry finds his way back here."

"I should be looking too," Maia protested, "we should be searching up and down Diagon Alley too."

"There's no time to argue," James pointed out, his expression serious, in Head-Auror boss mode, handing out the orders.

"I can stay here with Lyra and Ginny," Molly said quickly, "the rest of you can search alley. Boys, you help too. Don't wander too far, stay on the alley, return to here."

Maia practically ran out of the door, shouting a thanks to Molly over her shoulder. Logically, she knew that if Harry had ended up in Knockturn Alley, which he had never been to before and he probably didn't even know was next to Diagon Alley, he might stumble across a sign for the alley and find his way here. If he could do that, he knew they were supposed to be meeting at the floo network, and he had been to Diagon a few times, so he could probably find his way there.

She hurried up the alley, carefully scanning the crowds for any sign of her son, aware of Arthur Weasley following close behind her, while his sons scattered to look too. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ron getting stopped by a girl with dark bushy hair, but she had no time to stop and greet Hermione Granger.

Panic filled her as she hurried along the alley, tracing the route from the floo network to Knockturn Alley, pausing to look at the little crowds outside some of the shops, scanning them for her messy dark-haired boy.

Just as she was starting to think something awful had happened to him, the worst scenarios running through her mind, she heard a loud shout, "Maia! Over here!"

She looked up to see that the source of the loud noise was her husband, who was standing at the point where Diagon Alley met Knockturn Alley, Sirius at his side, and a hand resting on Harry's shoulder.

Relieved, Maia raced towards them, aware of the Weasley boys and their father, and Hermione rushing along behind them.

" _Harry_! Oh _there_ you are!" she breathed, reached out and pulling him into a hug, wrapping her arms tightly around him. Over the top of his head, she met James' eyes, "in Knockturn Alley?"

"Thankfully," James agreed, "Hagrid found him and was bringing him back here when we ran into them."

"I'm _fine_ Mum," Harry insisted as she let go of him, after a final squeeze and reaching into her robes for her wand.

"Knockturn Alley of all places," Maia sighed, waving her wand at him to repair his broken glasses and wipe dirt and soot off him, "full of weirdos down there. Anything could have -"

"Mum, I'm fine," Harry repeated, "really."

Maia took a breath and nodded, not wanting to over-react and not wanting to scare or worry her son, when he was clearly fine, and it was an accident, and nothing had happened to him. "I know, sweetie. I know."

She took another moment to breath, taking a step back to allow everyone to group around Harry, feeling James move to stand beside her, taking hold of her hand and squeezing reassuringly.

Arthur Weasley was trying to catch his breath, a confused looking couple who must be Hermione parents had caught up to them and stood behind their daughter, and before Maia could suggest going back to go Lyra, they saw a frantic Mrs Weasley hurrying towards them with Lyra and Ginny in tow.

"We've got him Molly," Maia called out in relief, as Mrs Weasley got to them, clutching her chest as she tried to catch her breath, her entire body sagging in relief.

"Thank goodness! Mrs Potter, I'd never have forgiven myself if anything happened to him. Oh Harry dear, you could have been anywhere!"

"These things happen, Molly," James told her firmly, "nothing you could have done about it."

"What's Knockturn Alley like, Harry?" Ron asked excitedly, "we've never been allowed in!"

"I should think not," Sirius said darkly, raising one elegant eyebrow.

Harry shrugged, "Erm, dirty. Bit creepy. Wouldn't recommend it. Erm … hi Hermione, how was your summer?"

Hermione flushed a dark red as the whole group turned to her, not used to having so much attention, and she rapidly began to make introductions, excitedly introducing her parents to her two friends, who she'd told them so much about, before the adults introduced themselves too. Mr and Mrs Granger, both muggle dentists, looked overwhelmed by the whole of Diagon Alley.

As a group, they decided they all needed to first visit the bank, and set off towards Gringotts Bank.

Lyra held onto her dad's hand, staring around at everything, getting distracted by some off the shop windows and having to be towed along. Behind them, Harry walked between Maia and Sirius, who asked him how his week with the Weasleys had been, what he'd been up to, what was on his list, and everything they could think of, and Harry had to admit that it was nice to be back with his family, even if they sometimes drove him crazy.

Once inside the bank, Hermione and her parents went off to the counter to exchange their muggle money into galleons and sickles, and Maia heard Mr Weasley excitedly talking after them, suggested that they went for a drink afterwards and talk about muggle things. As she went to the counter, she also heard Harry telling Ron and Hermione that he'd seen Malfoy in Borgin and Burkes – a notorious dark artefact store in Knockturn Alley.

She knew he meant Draco Malfoy, a nasty boy in his year at school. The boy's father, Lucius, was from a notorious dark family and was married to Maia's own cousin. They knew he was a death eater, from their old days in the Order, but he'd made such generous donations to the ministry when he was accused after Voldemort's fall, that his story of being forced to do things under the Imperius Curse was readily accepted.

"I hope we don't see the slimy git," she mumbled to James as they joined a queue to get money from their vault.

"Me too," grumbled James, who sometimes crossed paths with Lucius as he skulked around the ministry, trying to cosy up to the Minister for Magic.

"Daddy can _I_ come to the vault?" Lyra pleaded, tugging on his robes, "I want to see the dragon!"

"I tell you every time angel, I don't think there's really a dragon here," James chucked, reaching out to playfully tap the end of her nose.

" _Please?_ " she continued, "last year Harry got to, and Uncle Sirius said _I_ could this time. I really want to see the dragon. I love dragons!"

"You've never seen a dragon," he laughed, "How can you love them?"

"Please Daddy?"

James looked down at his daughter, who was wearing her best pleading puppy-dog expression and grinned, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "Well, Harry got to see the excitement of it last year, and it looks like he's not too fussed this year 'cos he's talking to his friends. So, I don't see why not."

"Yes!" Lyra celebrated, throwing both arms up in the air and running off to the side to go tell Sirius in excitement.

Maia smiled, looking up at James as they moved further forward in the queue, "You're so soft with her."

"How am I supposed to say no to her when she looks at me like that? And with _your_ eyes? It's all your fault," James replied defensively.

Fifteen minutes later, Lyra and James came back from the family vault, James clutching a pouch of money and Lyra rushing towards her mother and uncle, as they waited on the white marble steps of the bank, with the Weasleys and Grangers, who had managed to get to their money sorted before them.

"Hey pup!" Sirius grinned, holding out his arms for his niece to jump into a pick up, swinging her around playfully, "did you see the dragon?"

"No, but I think I heard it!" Lyra told him happily, "and I got to ride in the cart!"

"That's great!" Sirius grinned, planting her back on her feet, "I'm jealous."

"Better luck next time on the dragon, sweetie," Maia smiled, reaching out to smooth down her daughter's hair and holding her hand out to accept a bag of money from James.

They agreed to split up to do their shopping, as there was such a large group, and they all had different priorities. They would meet at Flourish and Blotts later in the morning. Maia and James naturally went to spend a bit of time with their son, whilst Molly wanted to take Ginny to get her new school robes, Arthur was insistent on taking Mr and Mrs Granger for a drink, Fred wanted to go to the joke shop, and Ron and Harry were keen to reunite with Hermione.

James, Maia and Sirius took Lyra, Harry, Ron and Hermione to Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlour as a matter of priority, where Lyra ordered a gigantic ice cream Sunday and the other three children had smaller desserts that they finished quicker, even as they excitedly tried to exchange stories of their summers. Lyra watch the three of them with interest, always keen to see what was going on with everyone, a talent for listening to other people's conversations.

When they were all finished, it was time to go for a stroll through the alley.

Maia took Lyra to stare at the cats in the Magical Menagerie, which she was fond of doing, even though the family cat hated her. They went to the apothecary, a little old junk shop where they found Percy Weasley pouring over a copy of "Prefects who Gained Power", stocked up on ink an parchment, stopped to gaze longingly at the Nimbus 2001 in Quality Quidditch Supplies, and crossed paths with Fred and George in Gambol and Japes Wizarding joke shop, where Maia caught James and Sirius trying to buy things without her noticing.

Finally, it was time to go to Flourish and Blotts and buy Gilderoy Lockhart's entire back catalogue. Maia didn't envy the Weasleys, who would need sets for their 5 school-age children.

As they reached the entrance of the shop, they were all surprised to see a large crowd outside, jostling to try and get in.

"Blimey," Sirius mumbled, "all this fuss over a bookshop?"

"The banner," James frowned, lifting a hand to point above the shop's entrance.

In huge purple letters, the banner read "GILDEROY LOCKHART will be signing copies of his autobiography MAGICAL ME today 12:30-4pm."

Hermione, to all of their surprise, let out a delight gap, "We can actually meet him! I mean, he's written almost the entire booklist!"

"My mum _fancies_ him," Ron groaned to Harry, as they all squeezed inside the shop, through the crowd that was mostly made up of middle-aged women.

Harry was mostly confused – unlike Ron, he hadn't grown up with his mother an avid Witch Weekly reader. Instead, she seemed to despise it, though she always knew about its contents, due to the women she worked with. He hadn't grown up seeing the man's face or hearing his mother talk about her.

Ron sounded so disgusted that Harry wasn't sure what to say. As they spied the rest of the Weasleys and Mr and Mrs Granger ahead, and Sirius began leading the way there, Harry replied in an undertone to Ron and Hermione, " _My_ mum fancies Ludo Bagman."

"Who?" Hermione frowned, though she was barely paying attention.

"Used to be a beater for England," Ron replied.

"Oh there you all are!" Mrs Weasley gushed as she saw them, clutching a copy of Magical Me to her chest, her cheeks pink with excitement and Ginny standing beside her, clutching her new cauldron and blushing when she laid eyes on Harry.

Maia saw Gilderoy Lockhart himself, wearing robes of forget-me-not-blue, a pointy hat set at a jaunty angle, and surrounded by large pictures of his own face, all winking and flashing that award-winning smile at the crowd, as a photographer with a huge black camera danced around him.

"Load of fuss for nothing," Sirius said lowly in Maia's ear as he stood behind her.

She fought off a smirk and shushed him, only to hear James add, "Look, so full of himself."

They were distracted by the camera man snarling at Ron, "Out of the way there, this is for the Daily Prophet."

Maia was suddenly well aware that they were standing quite close to the front, and the last thing she wanted was an ounce of attention from the press. They often had photos taken of them when they were out and about, and stuck into the Daily Prophet, usually with an accompanying article that speculated on how the Potters must be feeling, what they were doing, how they could ever get over the thing that had happened to Harry 11 years ago. If they ever spotted reports when they were out, Maia did her best to hide her children from them, and often the reporters were polite enough to leave them alone, given James' position at the ministry, but they weren't always so lucky.

As Ron grumbled at the reporter who had snapped at him, Lockhart, who had clearly had him, looked up from the book he was signing, and it took him about a second to spot Harry.

He leapt to his feet, and Maia groaned, reaching out and putting her hands on Harry's shoulders, gently pulling him back against her as she also stepped backwards, closer to James, feeling his hand come to rest protectively in the small of her back.

"It _can't_ be Harry Potter?" Lockhart asked with a gasp.

The crowd began whispering excitedly – some had clearly spotted Harry before Lockhart had, as Maia knew they'd been getting some looks from the moment they walked into the shop, but this was ridiculous.

Lockhart stepped forwards swiftly, seizing Harry's arm. Maia was taken by surprise but her instinct, as ever, was to protect her children, and she instinctively found herself closing her hands tighter over Harry's shoulders and pulling him back to her, glaring at Lockhart.

Lockhart noticed her hesitation and flashed her what she imagined he thought was his most charming smile, "Ah Mrs Potter," he said good-naturedly, "can I borrow Harry for just a second? Great opportunity, and I have a little surprise for him. He'll love it!"

Maia was given no chance to answer as Lockhart tugged on Harry's arm firmly, and with everyone in the shop watching them, she couldn't stop him without making more of a scene, so she let it go.

Delighted, Lockhart manoeuvred Harry towards the photographer and encouraged him to give the man a smile. Maia sighed as she caught her son's eyes and mouthed a "sorry", knowing how much he was hating the attention.

As soon as the photographer lowered his camera, Harry tried to sidle back over to his family, where his parents were watching unhappily, and Sirius was protectively holding Lyra to him, his arm draped over her shoulders.

Lockhart kept a hand on his shoulder, preventing him from going anywhere as he beamed at the applauding crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen! What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time! You see, when young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography – which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge-"

The crowd applauded and Maia rolled her eyes – it was without a doubt, all about the publicity, but she couldn't imagine what the announcement would be.

Lockhart continued, "-he had _no_ idea, that he would be getting much more than my book, _Magical Me_. He and his school fellows will, in fact, be getting the real, magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that, this September, I will be taking the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

The crowd cheered loudly, including Mrs Weasley, who applauded so hard Maia thought her hands must hurt. Maia herself looked at James, and over her shoulder at Sirius, who were wearing identical expressions of disgust. Lockhart may have had his battles with various dark creatures, but he was more of a showman than a learned man who wanted to pass on his knowledge to children. There must be plenty of better candidates out there somewhere, Maia thought. What on earth was Dumbledore playing at?

Lockhart presented Harry with a full set of his books, free of charge, before letting him go, and Harry ducked his head down and quickly, moving away from Lockhart, staggering slightly under the weight of the books, which James swiftly took from him before he could drop them all.

"We need a copy of the Standard Book of Spells Grade 2," Maia told James, "they're over there, by the tills."

"I'll get it," James told her, "why don't you and the kids go outside, where it's less hectic? We can all meet out there."

Maia agreed – Harry had already gone on ahead with Ron and Hermione, desperate to get out of there.

By the time they fought their way back through the crowds, Maia spied her son in a quieter corner of the shop, near the front entrance and immediately frowned on taking in his defence posture, fists curled up, chin tilted up defiantly.

Ron, Hermione, Fred, George and Ginny stood around him, Mr Weasley behind them all. Facing them was a boy with a shock of slicked-back blonde hair and an arrogant expression on his face. Draco Malfoy. Behind him, stood his face. It was very apparent that Maia, who was being closely followed by Sirius and Lyra, had just walked into an altercation, as Arthur and Lucius were glaring at each other, Arthur very red-faced, and Lucius pale and deadly, holding a battered old transfiguration book.

"Everything alright here?" Sirius asked as they joined the group, towered over the children and looking Lucius straight in the eye.

Lucius smirked even more upon seeing them, "Ah, and now the whole gang are here."

"Causing trouble as usual Lucius?" Maia asked sweetly, determined not to rise to him.

"Ah Mrs _Potter_ ," Lucius scoffed, as if her very name was a joke, "Might have known a pair of filthy blood-traitors like you and your brother here, would end up befriending the Weasleys."

"And very _fine_ friends they are too," Maia said, glaring at Lucius hard but keeping her tone polite enough, " _unquestionably_ good people."

Lucius' eyes flashed with anger because he knew exactly what she was implying, but before he could reply, Maia added, "Please give my regards to my cousin Narcissa. Are you leaving now?"

"Yes, why don't you take your poor son and your ridiculous hair bow, and get out of here?" Sirius suggested, sounding very bored.

Fred and George openly laughed at the mention of the bow, while Harry and Ron exchanged gleeful looks at the blush that crossed Draco Malfoy's face.

The elder Malfoy narrowed his eyes at Sirius then glared at Maia, "Foolish. You could have had so much more than …" he looked around at the Weasleys, gestured to James far away in the queue, and finally spied the Grangers hovering by nervously, " _this_." Looking down at the battered book in his hands, he tossed it back into Ginny's cauldron, looking disgusted, then glanced at Hermione, then her parents.

"Dear me, eh Weasley? What's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it? And all of you, to sink so low – to mix with such _company._ To think I thought you could sink no lower-"

With every word, Mr Weasley seemed to grow redder and redder, and although Maia and Sirius were brushing off the words and ready to give as good as they got, Mr Weasley was not containing himself anywhere near as well.

There was a sudden thud of metal as Ginny's cauldron went flying, as Mr Weasley had thrown himself at Mr Malfoy, knocking him backwards and into a bookshelf, sending several books flying.

Sirius swore under his breath, stepping forwards at once to try and intervene, telling the children to move back. Fred and George were gleefully shouting "Go on dad, get him!" whilst Mrs Weasley had emerged from the queue, clutching piles of books and shrieking, "Arthur! Stop it! No!"

The crowd in the store had stampeded away from them and shop assistants were hurrying over, trying in vain to ask them to calm down. James hurried over to help, and together he and Sirius successfully pulled the two apart.

Lucius tried to look as dignified as possible as he brushed his long blonde hair out of his eyes and commanded his son to follow him out of the shop.

"You should have just ignored him mate," Sirius told Arthur grimly, "he's not worth it."

"Well, never mind that now," James added, "what's done is done. Have we all got everything we need? I think the shop assistant are pretty keen to see the back of you, Arthur."

As they made their way back to the floo network, after saying goodbye to the Grangers, Molly berated her husband furiously, repeatedly telling him how embarrassing brawling in public was, and what an awful example he was setting to the children – and with the media there too!

James tried to gently intervene, pointing out that Lockhart had been delighted and had asked the photographer if there was any way to work the fight into the article about him. Molly mostly ignored this, and it was a subdued group who headed home.

"What did Malfoy say to you?" James asked Maia quietly, as they walked at the back of the group, watching a still-excited Lyra walk directly in front of them, holding Sirius hand and chattering away about what pranks they could pull on Remus with they got home, using their new goods from the joke shop.

Maia shrugged, "Nothing much, just usual the usual drivel. Disgrace to the family, traitor, blah blah blah."

James frowned, "But you're alright?"

Maia laughed, reaching out to take his hand, interlocking their fingers, "Of _course_ I'm alright. You know a few stupid words from someone like _Malfoy_ don't bother me. We know he's a scumbag, so we just ignore him. If he ever says anything to my son though, I'll fight him myself."

"He shouldn't disrespect you," James said seriously.

Maia laughed again, coming to a standstill and forcing James to too, since she was holding his hand. "Who _cares_? Lucius Malfoy called me a traitor and said I could have done so much better, which is nothing I haven't heard from his kind before from the moment I ran away from home. But most importantly, he was wrong."

"Well of course he was," James said instantly.

"I _couldn't_ have done any better than I have, because I have the best family and the best husband anyone could ask for," Maia told him, "so Malfoy can go to hell."

She was taken by surprise when James suddenly leaned in and kissed her firmly on the lips, right there in the middle of Diagon Alley, and when he broke apart from her, she blushed furiously, looking around to see if anyone was watching, half expecting to see the photographer from Flourish and Blotts there.

"Are you two coming or are you just going to stay there being gross?" Sirius called out to them from a few feet down the street, outside the entrance to the floo network.

"Coming!"


End file.
